HOLA Madrid, Guten Tag Munich, Ciao Milan. Newcastle United are back in the Champions League after an absence of two decades, and the black-and-white hordes are about to descend on some of European football’s most famous landmarks.

A top-four finish is assured with one game to spare, and while the Magpies were unable to confirm their qualification in a fittingly grand manner last night as they were frustrated by a Leicester City side that remain rooted in the bottom three, no one on Tyneside was complaining at the final whistle.

Newcastle’s players embarked on a deserved lap of honour to mark the final home game of a truly remarkable season, with the club’s supporters serenading Eddie Howe and his squad as they frolicked around the field.

There have been so many false dawns on Tyneside since Sir Bobby Robson last led the Magpies into Champions League action, but this feels like the beginning of something truly special. The hope is that as the club continues to grow and develop under its Saudi Arabia-backed ownership group, challenging within the top four of the Premier League will quickly become the norm.

Leicester provide a salutary reminder of how quickly things can change of course, so seasons like the one that will end at Stamford Bridge on Sunday are to be cherished. Whatever happens in the next few years, this will have been the campaign when Newcastle’s rebirth really took root.

Last night’s game will not feature too prominently in the highlights reel of the season, with the Magpies’ patient build-up play tending to falter in the face of some spirited Leicester defending. Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron struck the woodwork in a two-minute flurry towards the end of the first half and Daniel Iverson made a fine save from Alexander Isak in the second, but Newcastle’s attempts to force a breakthrough were thwarted. With a point good enough to guarantee a top-four spot, it didn’t really matter.

A night that ended in celebration got off to a somewhat inauspicious start, with Joelinton hobbling down the tunnel during the pre-match warm-up. The Brazilian was clearly struggling with the knock he suffered during last week’s win over Brighton, forcing a last-minute reshuffle that saw Elliot Anderson promoted to the starting side.

That was unfortunate for the Magpies, but things could easily have got worse within the opening ten minutes when their other Brazilian midfielder, Bruno Guimaraes, committed an offence that could easily have seen him receive a straight red card.

Guimaraes mistimed his challenge on Boubakary Soumare, with his studs thudding into the Leicester midfielder’s knee. Referee Andre Marriner only deemed the offence worthy of a yellow card, with a VAR check agreeing with the on-field call. A furious John Terry led the protests on the Leicester bench, and given that Guimaraes saw red for a similar offence in the Carabao Cup semi-final win over Southampton, it felt as though Newcastle had been fortunate not to be reduced to ten men at a very early stage of proceedings.

As it was, they were able to dominate the first-half possession statistics with a full complement of players on the pitch, although they initially struggled to make much headway against the massed ranks of the Leicester defence.

By dropping playmakers James Maddison and Harvey Barnes in order to switch to a five-man backline, Dean Smith had made his pre-match intentions crystal clear, and the visitors set about frustrating Newcastle by dropping deep and packing out their defensive third.

Almiron fired an early effort over the crossbar from the edge of the area and Anderson floated a 20-yard strike into the arms of goalkeeper Iverson, but the home side struggled to recreate the free-flowing attacking football that had seen them tear Brighton apart four days earlier.

Or at least they did until the final five minutes of the first half. Twice as half-time approached they fashioned decent opportunities; twice they struck the post.

Wilson had the first opportunity after Dan Burn kept a deep cross alive at the back post. Swivelling onto Burn’s knockdown, Wilson fired a close-range effort against the left-hand upright. The rebound looped invitingly into his path, but his follow-up header was nodded off the line.

Two minutes later, and it was Miguel Almiron hitting the opposite post after Sean Longstaff cushioned the ball down into his path. Almiron’s first-time strike cannoned off the woodwork, with Isak firing the rebound over the crossbar.

Had either opportunity gone in, the complexion of the second half would have completely changed. Instead, while Leicester boss Dean Smith brought on Maddison at half-time in an attempt to inject at least a modicum of attacking inspiration into his side, the second period followed an identical pattern to the first with Newcastle completely dominating possession as their opponents dug in on the edge of their 18-yard box.

It was going to take something special to penetrate the Foxes’ defence, and it almost arrived just before the hour mark, with Isak driving the ball goalwards after Almiron rolled a square ball across the face of the 18-yard box. The Swede’s effort appeared to be heading towards the top corner, but Iverson produced an excellent stop as he tipped the ball over the bar.

The Leicester goal was leading an increasingly charmed life, with the ball somehow staying out again in the 71st minute. Kieran Trippier’s corner flicked off the head of Leicester defender Wout Faes, but while Guimaraes looked certain to score from about one yard out, his proximity to the post meant he was unable to get a proper connection on his header and the ball skewed across the face of the goalmouth before being hacked away.