Newcastle United were fortunate to come away with a point as they played out a stalemate with AC Milan on their return to the Champions League at the San Siro.

Eddie Howe's side were delayed in getting to Milan and it was a slow start for the Toon on the pitch as well, as their Italian hosts dominated proceedings and had the better of the chances. 

But some heroic stops from Nick Pope and some impressive defending earned Newcastle a second successive clean sheet and a hard-fought point on Tuesday night. 

Milan, fresh from their 5-1 thrashing at the hands of rivals Inter Milan last weekend, started much the brighter of the two sides and perhaps should have taken the lead when the ball fell to Olivier Giroud in the penalty area, but the veteran Frenchman hit his volley straight at Pope.

Theo Hernandez was then left unmarked from a corner but again he could only power his header straight at the England international, who turned the effort over the bar. 

The left-back would then race down the wing before crossing for his French compatriot Giroud, but his effort at the front post went wide of the target. 

Rafael Leao also wasted a golden opportunity after dancing past two Newcastle defenders, as he inexplicably attempted to backheel the ball in and tripped, before Kieran Trippier cleared Tommaso Pobega's follow-up effort off the line.

The Portuguese winger was guilty again in the second half as he headed over from Alessandro Florenzi's pinpoint cross.

After 90 minutes of domination, Newcastle very nearly snatched all three points at the death with their first shot on target of the game.

Elliot Anderson worked the ball well to Sean Longstaff on the edge of the area and his fierce effort was tipped over the bar, but there was no time for the corner according to the referee, and it would finish 0-0. 

While it was an underwhelming display from Howe's side on their Champions League return, they will welcome a point ahead of further tough fixtures against Borussia Dortmund and PSG in the coming weeks.