Good luck tonight Panionios!

[ukchris]

Although very disappointed that there won't be a return leg in England because of the group format, I'm really pleased that the Newcastle game's being shown over here in the UK - I'll be watching on ITV2.

I wore my Panionios shirt and woolly hat on the tube to work this morning - but sadly didn't bump into any Geordies. And in a minute I'll be rushing home from work to watch it - and we've invited a few friends over to see this team I'm always raving about (I'm English, but my fiance's family are from Athens, and I've adopted Panionios as my team).

Hopefully the fall out between Souness and Bellamy will work in Panionios' favour, but Newcastle have looked a lot stronger since Souness took over. I think this is probably the toughest game in the group stage, so a win's going to be hard, but a point would be a good result. But let's see what happens...!

[HOLLYWOOD]

Question to ukchris?? What did ur Newcastle friends think of Panionios after the final score??

[ukchris]

None of my friends are actually Newcastle fans, but I think people thought pretty much the same as me - Panionios looked hungry in the first heart, faded in the second and were unlucky to lose out to a dodgy penalty. But I think they were impressed too with the fact Panionios were able to match a good Premiership team for such a long time.

I'm getting married in Athens in February and am bringing down about 30 of my English friends/family to the Nea Smyrni stadium the day after the wedding to see a match - so friends of mine all over the UK were watching to see what they can expect. I think most of them will have come away pleasantly surprised.