Alan Pardew said:

"We go home with some new experience, and certainly for some of our players because they won't get that time on the ball they had tonight in a Premier League game. Sometimes you can be uncomfortable with time, trust me. I have been there as a player, so I know. You pick out the wrong pass and you can lose confidence.

"But tonight, everybody used the ball well. We could have had a little bit more devil in our game, but otherwise I was really happy. The most important thing is that we wanted to win the game. I can't protect everybody.

"We tried to restrict (Cisse's) work-rate to protect him - he didn't really close down too much. His only brief tonight was to get us a goal, and he had a couple of half-chances and nearly did. But 75 minutes was definitely, in my mind, that was him done.

"It was a great opportunity to put Adam Campbell on the pitch, the youngest player to play for Newcastle. I consciously knew that and I wanted him to have that tag because he has got a great future in front of him.

"He's such a lovely lad and a local lad, and it was nice that he had 15 minutes - and had half a chance as well to nick it for us.

"It was a great day for us in a lot of ways because we are going to call upon everybody - League Cup, FA Cup, the squad is all going to play.

"If we are taking an away goal into the home leg, we would be favourites - but we are the favourites when we play at home whoever we are playing, in my opinion, so we have got to win the game.

"They have shown us tonight that it's not going to be a pushover and it's not going to be a foregone conclusion, so we have got to be right and we have got to make sure that the team is strong enough."

Ryan Taylor πάνω από το τοίχο

There may not have been many present to witness it at first hand, but Ryan Taylor's stunning free kick set Newcastle on the road to what will hopefully be an adventure matching the excitement and achievement of the domestic campaign that secured this European return after five seasons.

Alan Pardew admitted before the match that he'd probably take a draw and seemed satisfied with his first-ever goal and point in Europe as a manager, having lost home and away to Palermo (0-1 and 0-3) when in charge of West Ham for their abortive UEFA Cup campaign back in 2006.  

Denied the luxury of an extra day to prepare for the visit to Chelsea by the inflexibility of UEFA, the Premier League and Metropolitan Police, his team selection reflected not only the twin demands of two fixtures in such close proximity but also some early season injury concerns.

Having come up against Atromitis striker Kuqi (younger brother of toon old boy Shefki) when playing recently for Northern Ireland against Finland, Shane Ferguson was anticipated to feature in this game, along with fellow fringe player Haris Vuckic - the latter a pre-season regular.  

Along with Sammy Ameobi though, that pair weren't on United's charter flight to Greece due to injury. And news that Shola Ameobi had failed to travel after pulling out of the previous Saturday's game against Spurs in the warm-up further limited United's striking options. 

Whether Shola would have been capable of adding to his previous dozen European strikes is open to question, but the enforced reduction in tempo caused by the searing Athens heat would have suited him, while his ability to hold up the ball could have made him a valuable asset - even for 45 minutes. 

As it was, Papiss Cisse appeared to lead the line, while Demba Ba remained at home with the likes of Cheick Tiote, Danny Simpson, Fabricio Coloccini and Hatem Ben Arfa. The bench meanwhile included Tim Krul, Yohan Cabaye, Steven Taylor, Davide Santon and Jonas Gutierrez but only the latter was called upon to work up a sweat as United looked to push on for a second goal. 

James Tavernier, Sylvain Marveaux and Vurnon Anita added to their meagre appearance tallies, with Anita making a first Newcastle start after debuting from the bench against Spurs. The Dutchman however is no stranger to European club competition with 28 appearances for Ajax since 2007 including ties against Real Madrid and Manchester United last season.

Backed by a small but noisy section of "ultras", Atromitos made the early running and put United under pressure; Epstein causing problems for Tavernier at right-back before he nipped in from that flank to score a goal that home fans and players alike seemed unprepared to celebrate.

Frustratingly, United were proving unable to get either the ball or adequate support to Cisse and test ex-Liverpool 'keeper Charles Itandje in the home goal - who looked anything but reliable when awkwardly booting clear a whipped-in free-kick from Taylor. The Cameroonian custodian was then grateful for a defender to hack the ball clear after spilling another cross - a weakness that will surely have been noted ahead of the second leg on Tyneside.

Going in at the interval back on level terms boosted United and Harper never looked like conceding after half time, although the attacking efforts of the visitors from open play still remained fitful.

Cisse almost turned provider when his cross found the toiling Marveaux and although his header was weak, a deflection off a defender almost fooled Itandje. Gabriel Obertan then burst into life with a first-time volleyed effort that narrowly missed the target, before picking out Cisse with a centre only for the 'keeper to get a hand on the ball as he shaped to shoot.

Romain Amalfitano came on for his senior debut and again linked up well with fellow substitute and new boy Campbell, as the pair had done in the closing stages of the defeat at Cardiff. The former almost managed to jink into the box and fire in what would have been the winner, only for a covering defender to intervene.

Honours even then and a broadly agreeable result from a low-level contest that at times had the look and intensity of a pre-season game. Logic dictates that we'll prevail next Thursday and find ourselves in the Group Stage draw, but it's perhaps as well to recall the folly of our 2003 exit from the Champions League at the hands of Partizan Belgrade (1-0 up, lost 0-1 at home, out on pens). 

There's no such thing as a foregone conclusion where Newcastle United are concerned.  

Biffa