In the streets of Milan and the away end of the San Siro, Newcastle supporters embrace the return of their side to the Champions League
The game begins in scorching sunlight, ends in blackness and the night stretches on. Hangovers kick in early, encouraged by the sun’s evaporation and no alcohol sales in our section, by the sweat-leaking walk around this monstrous, brutalist stadium, and by the way
Lunchtime in Navigli, and the nourishment is as liquid as the canal we straddle. Newcastle fans are on either side of the sluggish, khaki water, flags are draped on the bridges and amid the bars and restaurants, locals are hawking bottles of beer from tubs filled with melting ice. Underfoot, the pathway is sticky with beer and crunchy with shards of glass. There are barks of laughter and chanting; one man is being pilloried for wearing the same pair of trousers four days in a row.
There is a mission and we choose to accept it; drink. With none to be done at the San Siro later, we must be swift and efficient. Word filters around of faltering supplies. “If they’ve got nee beer left now …” But then it’s 6.10pm and the teams are coming out to warm-up, which is nonsensical concept in this weather, and it’s “Toon Toon, Black and White Army,” and our first explosion of collective noise. When Tonali is shown on the screen, there is noise from everywhere, as Milan fans say hello-goodbye to their former player who left them to join us in the summer and we continue our own introductions …The game leaps and lurches towards us, red and black in their end, black and white in ours.
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