OUTPLAYED but not outscored, battered but not broken. Newcastle United’s Champions League return served as a sobering reminder of the quality levels of the environment in which they are now operating, but the magnificent rearguard action that secured a goalless draw in the San Siro also proved that Eddie Howe’s side will not be brushed aside without an almighty fight.

AC Milan’s dominance was near-total, with the home side controlling every area of the pitch as they fired in 25 shots to Newcastle’s six. Crucially, though, it was not reflected on the giant scoreboard which illuminated the Milanese sky, and ultimately, Howe will justifiably reflect that that is the only thing that really matters.

Newcastle will have to improve as an attacking force if they are to have any chance of making it to the Champions League knockout stages, but a point in an arena as intimidating as the San Siro is not to be sniffed at. Having proved their defensive mettle, Howe and his players will be confident of displaying another side to their game in the back-to-back home matches against Paris St Germain and Borussia Dortmund that are to come next month.

They had Nick Pope to thank for today’s shutout, with the goalkeeper producing a string of first-half saves in particular that prevented AC Milan from claiming the breakthrough their attacking superiority probably deserved. Dropped by England boss Gareth Southgate earlier in the month, and questioned rather closer to home after an error-strewn display against Brighton, this was Pope at his shot-stopping best. Had he not been present as Newcastle’s last line of defence, things might well have been markedly different.

As it was, the Magpies were able to leave Milan with their heads held high. Their back four laid their bodies on the line when required, blocking shots and hacking balls clear to prevent Milan’s forwards from latching on to Pope’s parries. Their midfield didn’t really function as a defensive unit, and was nowhere to be seen in attack, and neither Alexander Isak nor Callum Wilson were able to offer a threat in the Milan 18-yard box. Milan’s players, though, desperate to atone for their weekend derby thrashing, lacked the killer instinct that might have changed Newcastle’s night.

It was an evening, and an occasion, that had been more than two decades in the making. From the flags and banners that were draped across the bridges spanning the canals in Milan’s Navigli district to the black-and-white shirted fans posing for a photograph in front of the imposing Duomo, this was Tyneside on tour.

Newcastle’s supporters ate spaghetti and drank Moretti, toasting their Italian midfielder, Sandro Tonali, along the way. By the time they headed to the San Siro, in temperatures touching 30 degrees, the party was well and truly in full swing.

Howe’s policy was to play down the magnitude of the occasion, hence his decision to fly in late on the eve of the game and eschew the tradition of training at the stadium on the eve of the game. Howe’s mantra was that this was “just another game”, but it wasn’t. When you’ve waited so long to secure a return to European football’s top table, you want to savour every morsel of the subsequent feast.

Not, however, that there was much for Newcastle to savour during an opening 20 minutes in which Pope was called into action on six separate occasions to keep the scoresheet blank. It was a one-man resistance operation from the Newcastle goalkeeper, who repeatedly found himself parrying shots that rained in from a variety of distances and angles.

There was a parry from a long-range effort from Tommaso Pobega, a thrust-out arm that blocked a shot from Olivier Giroud and a tip-over that prevented Rade Krunic’s long-range effort from finding the net. The pick of Pope’s early interventions was the point-blank stop that thwarted Theo Hernandez as the AC Milan full-back burst into the box to meet a corner with a powerful downward header. By half-time. Milan had racked up 15 efforts at goal, with Pope’s save count having risen to seven.

Newcastle’s lack of midfield control was alarming, with Bruno Guimaraes pushing forward from his central-midfield position and leaving a huge pocket of space in front of the Magpies’ back four that Milan’s creative playmakers were able to exploit. Newcastle opted against signing a naturally-defensive midfielder this summer, spending £53m on Tonali instead, but at the moment, the midfield balance is simply not working. As the Brighton defeat also proved, the Magpies are far too easy to break against at the moment.

That they made it to the interval unscathed at the San Siro was largely due to Pope, although AC Milan’s profligacy in the 18-yard box also helped. Quite what Rafael Leao was doing when he dribbled his way into the heart of the area, only to completely miss his kick as he attempted to back-heel home, only the Portuguese forward will know. The ball broke to Pobega, but his shot was cleared by Jacob Murphy from just in front of the goalline.

Newcastle’s only first-half shot arrived four minutes before the interval, with Murphy, who was a surprise starter ahead of both Miguel Almiron and Harvey Barnes, curling well wide.

The visitors were not really any more threatening after the break, but for quarter-of-an-hour or so at the start of the second half, at least they managed to keep their opponents at arm’s length and quell the stream of efforts that had been flying at Pope.

The goalkeeper’s bout of relative inactivity ended just after the hour mark, when he fell on a tame shot from Milan substitute Tijjani Reijnders, but it was Newcastle who almost claimed what would have been a remarkable winner in stoppage time. Sean Longstaff fired in a shot from just outside the area, which Marco Sportiello tipped over the bar.