There's nothing like going in at the deep end and Newcastle United start their Champions League campaign with a home match against Barcelona.
Newcastle secured their return to Europe's premier club competition by finishing fifth in the Premier League last season, capitalising on England's additional spot.
Club legend Alan Shearer, a prominent pundit and enthusiastic supporter of the Magpies, won't be at St James' Park for the big occasion on Thursday.
Yes, that's Thursday – it's an unusual match week in the Champions League and Wor Al is paying the price.
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Had the game been scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday, the Premier League's record goalscorer would have been there to cheer on his old club.
Instead, the reason for his absence is one with which Dorothy Gale might be familiar.
"The fan fest that the Premier League do in the United States, this has been arranged for such a long time," said Shearer on The Rest Is Football podcast.
"I am going to Kansas and my flight's on Thursday. Can you believe that?
"I'm going to miss the game. I can't believe it. Nightmare for me, unfortunately."
While Shearer is treading the yellow brick road, Eddie Howe's Magpies will be targeting three points in their first experience of the Champions League's new league phase.
After Barcelona's visit to the north-east, Newcastle will take on Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica, Marseille, PSV, Athletic Bilbao, Union Saint-Gilloise and European champions Paris Saint-Germain in a challenging league phase fixture list.
Newcastle will have designs on a top-eight spot in the single Champions League table and winning their home games would be a good start.
This season is the 30th anniversary of Shearer's own Champions League debut for Blackburn Rovers.
He went on to play in the competition proper ten times for his boyhood club.
Newcastle's Champions League record
The Magpies have qualified for the Champions League four times but lost to Partizan Belgrade in the third qualifying round in 2003-04.
In 1997-98 they finished above Barcelona in the group stage but both were eliminated.
2002-03 saw the teams paired in the group stage again. This time, Barcelona won the group but Newcastle were beaten to second place by Inter Milan.
After a long absence, Howe took them back into the Champions League and they went out in the group stage again in 2023-24.
Shearer, inevitably, is Newcastle's record Champions league scorer.
Topics: Football, Newcastle United, Alan Shearer, Champions League, Barcelona
Chris Nee