Sandro Tonali is expected to be at the game tonight supporting his Newcastle United teammates playing against his former Milan teammates in a huge Champions League clash.
Tonali has been suspended since October but is still training with Newcastle’s first team and has been watching them on from the stands in recent games.
The Athletic have now revealed that the midfielder is set to watch the game from the director’s box and will likely continue to do so until he completes his suspension in August.
Tonali’s ban has added to Eddie Howe’s headache
Newcastle have been going through a pretty tough injury crisis with the number of players unavailable often in double figures this season.
Tonali’s 10-month long suspension has certainly not helped the situation and is forcing Newcastle to explore the January market for a temporary replacement for the Italian.
The 23-year-old, however, is still a big part of this team and the fact that he was allowed to train with the first team was huge as it means he can maintain his fitness and stay close with his relatively new teammates.
It will be another eight months before Tonali is back out on the field for Newcastle, but he will no doubt be desperate to play in tonight’s game against Milan and facing some of his old friends.
Milan is Newcastle’s biggest game in recent memory
It’s not a cup final but it certainly feels like one. While the result isn’t necessarily in their hands, Newcastle will be doing all they can to secure themselves a spot in the Champions League knockout rounds tonight.
Should PSG fail to win away against Dortmund, a notoriously difficult place to go, then both Newcastle and Milan will have a chance to qualify should either of them win.
The return leg was an interesting matchup with the Italians dominating the game but kept out by the heroics of Nick Pope who is ruled out tonight through injury.
It’s big games like this that players like Tonali will be absolutely gutted not to feature in, and Newcastle could certainly use his help in the midfield battle against Milan as 17-year-old Lewis Miley may have to start his seventh game in a row.
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