Alan Shearer last night set his sights on a reunion with Fabien Barthez but insisted it is Newcastle's defenders who are likely to hold the key to the club's hopes of Uefa Cup success.
United's skipper scored his 17th European goal for the Magpies to help secure the 2-1 victory over PSV Eindhoven which has set up a semi-final clash with Olympique Marseille.
Barthez was a part of the Monaco team which knocked Kevin Keegan's United out of this competition in 1997 and it is the former Manchester United keeper who will stand between Sir Bobby Robson and a place in next month's Gothenburg final.
"I am looking forward to it very much," said Shearer. "But we all know that it will be a very difficult game against a quality team with some good players.
"We always have a chance at home and if we can defend like we have been doing in recent weeks, we're a match for anyone.
"We are always a threat from set-pieces, as we showed against PSV, especially when Laurent (Robert) comes up trumps like that. It's moves like that which win games and we have got to keep doing this kind of thing if we're to keep progressing.
"It was a tight game but you don't expect anything different when you're playing in the quarter-finals of a competition like this. PSV pushed us all the way but we came through it."
Shearer opened the scoring but Newcastle had to rely on Gary Speed to secure their victory after Guus Hiddink's side had drawn level through Majeta Kezman's second-half penalty. "It was a great ball in from Laurent," said the midfielder. "He put so much on it that I think their keeper misjudged it. I heard the cheer of the crowd before I saw the ball in the back of the net so I knew that it had gone in.
"Now we have a European semi-final to look forward to but none of us are getting carried away. It will be a very difficult game, a big test for us."
* MANCHESTER City have confirmed that manager Kevin Keegan is expected to take training today following his recent back problems.
Former Newcastle boss Keegan has missed four successive draws since having a cortisone injection to ease inflammation in his spine and an attempted comeback seven days ago had to be aborted after he aggravated the problem on a walk near his North-East home.
