Yet it could have been very different had Newcastle handled a white-hot atmosphere so well by gaining the upper hand early on.
The noise level before kick-off was certainly deafening – even louder whistles were blown when referee Maurizio Mariani and the officials came out for warm-ups.
Flares were fired, ticker tape flickered in the air and a spectacular tifo rose from the rooftops, carrying a banner reading “For my city, for my club”.
But Newcastle were ready for it.
They had traveled early, trained at the velodrome on Monday evening and considered preparing slightly differently on game day, in Howe’s own words, “to keep the players mentally engaged and ready for the game”.
It seemed as if that preparation had paid off against the second-placed team in Ligue 1.
Instead of being intimidated by the crowd, Newcastle started aggressively.
They were rewarded when Harvey Barnes – fresh from his match-winning double against Manchester City on Sunday – put his side ahead in the sixth minute.
But, crucially, Newcastle failed to press their advantage and Marseille rallied.
The visitors were given ample warnings after Aubameyang spurned several chances in the first half.
However, the much-travelled Marseille forwards were not so forgiving after the break, as Newcastle paid a heavy price for a poor kick-off.
Defender Fabian Schaar advanced the ball and his team failed to regain control after losing a series of duels in the opposition’s midfield.
It was very easy for Timothy Weah to take several players out of the game by passing to Darryl Bakola and the 17-year-old played a through-ball into the right-hand channel behind the Newcastle defence.
Given how far Aubameyang was from goal, the Marseille equalizer wasn’t exactly a foregone conclusion.
But keeper Nick Pope came off his line in an attempt to get past Aubameyang but was caught in no man’s land as the forward struck brilliantly from a tight angle on the right wing and finished brilliantly.
Howe was keen to emphasize that he “supported” Pope after the game despite the poor decision, pointing out how the goalkeeper had “made some very good saves against Manchester City only three days earlier”.
But it was a night when their side’s weaknesses at the back and on the road again became apparent.
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