Daniel Wales reports from St. James’ Park ahead of Newcastle United’s Champions League clash against Benfica, managed by José Mourinho, someone who, given his ties to Newcastle and Sir Bobby Robson in particular, spoke fondly of the club. Newcastle Head Coach Eddie Howe and goalkeeper Nick Pope were very much looking forward to the game and hoping for a positive result.
00:01Newcastle United's loss away at Brighton on Saturday was, in a word, disappointing.
00:06The Seagull's first goal will have annoyed Eddie Howe from a defensive point of view
00:10and, whilst Newcastle then got themselves level, Brighton were able to hit back and win the match.
00:16The Magpies have since been in training to try and correct those mistakes.
00:23Having another match come so quickly after that defeat will be exactly what Eddie Howe and his squad would have wanted.
00:29But, the fixture in question sees Newcastle host Jose Mourinho's Benfica, here at St James' Park, under the lights in the Champions League.
00:37Whilst their Premier League form has been inconsistent, the Magpies did win away in Brussels against Union San Gelas in their last European match.
00:46And, they will be hoping to follow that up with a victory on Titanside to really bolster their chances of progressing from the league phase of this competition.
00:55The match though, like Barcelona's visit to the North East in September, comes with slightly more to it than the average fixture for Newcastle United.
01:05First though, on team news, Sandro Tonali is a slight doubt with illness, which Eddie Howe made clear could be an opportunity for the likes of Jacob Ramsey or Lewis Miley.
01:19Yeah, they have Champions League experience, but they're also very, very good players.
01:23Yeah, I think we've got a really strong midfield this year.
01:27So, if one player is missing, it's an opportunity for a very good player to come in and grab theirs.
01:31So, yeah, I thought both players did well when they came on on Saturday.
01:35The return of Jose Mourinho to St James' is the big talking point though, as Howe recalled previous meetings with him.
01:42Yeah, just great games. I think any Premier League win, I always said to you guys, any Premier League win is savoured, regardless of where you are.
01:54It's so difficult to do it in the Premier League and especially against, at that stage of my career, you know, Chelsea were one of the strongest teams in the league.
02:03And I think some great wins for us at the time, being Bournemouth manager gave us the belief that we could compete in the Premier League, being a newly promoted team.
02:11You need every shot of confidence you can get.
02:14So, yeah, I look back fondly with those games, but obviously this game is very different.
02:19It's, you know, a different kind of experience.
02:23We now, and we've said this before the previous Champions League game, we're desperate to qualify in the competition.
02:28We know the importance of our home games.
02:30So, after the disappointment at Barcelona, we're looking forward to this one.
02:33Newcastle's number one, Nick Pope, was hoping that such an occasion will bring out the best of St James' Park.
02:39Yeah, of course, something, you know, we speak about within the group is, you know, the atmospheres that the home Champions League games bring
02:46and, you know, the experiences we've had over the last couple of years.
02:50So, yeah, a real special night ahead and, yeah, a game that, you know, I always look forward to.
02:56For Jose Mourinho, though, returning to Newcastle is special, given his ties to Sir Bobby Robson.
03:03Sir Bobby is a legend here.
03:05And in England, when you are a legend, there are many reasons to be a legend.
03:09He loved this club, he gave everything to this club.
03:16Of course, he would be so happy with that victory in the Cup.
03:22I was very happy.
03:24I know that he's not the target.
03:27I know that Newcastle and all the Georgies, what they want, is bigger than the League Cup.
03:33But the League Cup is the beginning.
03:35To play in the Champions League is another very important step.
03:42And I think the club goes in the right direction.
03:46Many clubs with new owners, with fresh money, lots of wrong decisions, lots of ups and downs.
03:57Newcastle, since the moment they have the new ownership, Eddie, stability.
04:05Jose Mourinho has always talked fondly of Newcastle United.
04:09And, in years gone by, many on Tyneside perhaps would have wished that he had been in charge of the Magpies during the peak years of his managerial career.
04:18Despite his affection though, he will be out to silence the special atmosphere at St James' Park as he described it.
04:24It will be up to Eddie Howe, Nick Pope and the rest of Newcastle United to bounce back from the defeat against Brighton.
04:30And, make Mourinho's return to the North East a miserable one.
04:34And, continue what is actually quite a poor record of results that the special one has endured against the Magpies when in charge of the visiting team.
04:44Of course, the best interest in the matter is that the magpies that the Magpies should also be able to have any problems.
04:50The Magpies is an interest in the Magpies that are in charge of the Magpies.
04:53But, when you go to St James' Park, I think it is important to see that the Magpies of the Magpies starts to allow more people to learn to organize the Magpies.
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