Welcome to the PSG V Newcastle preview.
Wednesday 28th January and an 8pm kick-off
Newcastle United travel to Paris on Wednesday night to do battle with Champions League heavyweights and current holders Paris Saint-Germain.
The Toon are safe in the knowledge that they are guaranteed a place in the play-off round regardless of the result.
However, a huge incentive to win and finish in the top eight, that would avoid a two-legged play off for a place in the last-sixteen.
Form
NUFC have played seven champions league matches so far this season, winning four, drawing one and losing two. Wins have come over Union SG, Benfica, Athletic Bilbao and PSV, whereas we drew away at Leverkusen despite holding a 2-1 lead with just two minutes to go. We’ve also lost 2-1 to Barcelona and Marseille. We’ve scored sixteen goals and conceded six. The thirteen points gained has us seventh in the table, we’ll either make a place in the top eight that will guarantee progress for the next round, or finish between ninth and twenty-fourth meaning we’ll face a two-legged play-off.
PSG have also played seven Champions League matches. They’ve beaten Atalanta, Barcelona, Leverkusen and Tottenham Hotspur, drawn with Athletic Bilbao and lost to Bayern Munich and Sporting Lisbon. They’ve scored an incredible twenty goals and conceded ten. They currently sit sixth in the league, ahead of the Toon only on goals scored. Both teams know that a win from this one could see a finish as high as third from a thirty-six team league.
Last time out
Newcastle hosted Villa on Sunday afternoon and could have taken the lead in less than forty seconds when superb skill from Sandro Tonali forced a fine save from the ‘keeper. Unfortunately, Villa executed the perfect game plan of hitting us on the break and took all three points due to two well-taken goals. Lewis Miley was unlucky to see a looping header clawed away but there was very little to cheer for a frustrated home crowd as United missed out on the chance to climb into the top six.
PSG travelled to Auxerre on Friday evening and were reliant on a late goal to take all three points. They are top of the French league at present, just two points ahead of Lens.
Stat attack!
-The Toon have travelled for competitive matches in France on nine separate occasions and only won once, a 4-0 win away at Sochaux in 2004.
– The two sides have previously met twice in the Champions League with Newcastle winning one and drawing one, scoring five goals and conceding two.
– Including qualifiers, Newcastle have played eighteen games away from home in the Champions League, winning four.
Memorable match
Newcastle travelled to Paris in 2023 having already hammered PSG 4-1 that season. Any notions that the French giants would be out for revenge were dispelled when great work from Livramento allowed Almiron to have a shot at goal. The ‘keeper was equal to Miggy’s effort but Alexander Isak was on hand to tuck home the rebound and give the Toon the lead after twenty-four minutes. It seemed like this would be enough to ensure NUFC completed a sensational double over PSG and take a commanding position in the quest to qualify for the knockout stages.
Newcastle defended like lions and soaked up a ton of pressure as we inched towards a famous victory. On the rare occasions our defence was breached, Nick Pope was a brick wall. With the match eight minutes into injury time, the ball bounced off Livramento’s chest and rolled onto his arm. The referee did exactly the right thing by refusing to entertain any notions of a penalty appeal but unbelievably was then called to the monitor by VAR and changed his mind to give one of the most ludicrous penalties in living memory. Mbappe stepped up to score with the last kick of the match and Toon players slumped to the turf in devastation, cruelly denied a moment of glory. The points may have been shared but this was very much a moral victory for NUFC who were completely robbed. PSG 1-1 Newcastle.
Played for both
Laurent Robert signed for Sir Bobby Robson from PSG in 2001 and instantly lit up the Toon with a series of match-winning displays as Newcastle returned to the days of the entertainers. Alongside fellow new signing Craig Bellamy, Robert helped Newcastle become the surprise package of an intriguing season, enjoying a genuine title challenge that saw us top of the league at Christmas.
Memorable moments in Robert’s first season included strikes against Middlesbrough, Man United, Arsenal and Southampton, as well as assists both home and away against the Mackems. He spent five years at Newcastle United and is still a fan favourite for his freekicks, goals, assists, flair and general style of play. His last season however was something of a damp squib under Graeme Souness with a lowlight being dropped for a crucial Uefa Cup quarter-final second leg away at Sporting Lisbon due to ill-advised (yet completely true) comments made on his personal website.
Issue 194 – 11 June 2005
The final day of the season saw him strip down to a pair of grey briefs before jogging off the pitch vowing to never play for Souness again. One of the most talented players we’ve ever enjoyed having in the Premier League era, question marks of his attitude and temperament often blighted his time on Tyneside but some of the memories he provided were genuinely worth the entry fee alone. Before playing for the Toon, he spent two successful years at PSG scoring twenty-four goals in sixty-one matches.
David Rozehnal spent two years at PSG between 2005-2007 before signing for Sam Allardyce’s new look Newcastle team. Unfortunately, the one season he spent at the Toon was a transitional one with a new manager who didn’t last the year due to a new owner and the return of Kevin Keegan. He played twenty-one times for the Toon before signing for Lazio.
Yohan Cabaye joined NUFC in 2011 as Alan Pardew looked to add to his midfield due to the departure of Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton. An incredible first season saw Pardew’s team challenge for the Champions League places with Cabaye being one of the stand-out players. Goals against Wigan, Blackburn, Man United and Stoke saw Yohan become a firm favourite amongst the Toon Army. His second season saw a drop in form for the entire team as we went from top-five to barely avoiding relegation with Cabaye’s season being disrupted by injury. Despite this, goals in consecutive 1-1 draws against the Mackems and Liverpool were most welcome, as were important strikes against Villa and Stoke. Unfortunately, the start of the 13/14 season saw a fracturing of his relationship with fans as he was left out of the squad for the season-opener due to having his head turned by a bid from Arsenal. The move eventually didn’t go through and Cabaye was booed onto the pitch when making his return to the team against Fulham. He managed to play himself back into the hearts of Toon supporters with goals against Liverpool, Man United and a brace against West Ham but left for PSG in January as our season imploded. He spent one season in Paris scoring once in thirty-nine games.
Managers
Eddie Howe after a 2-0 home defeat by Aston Villa:
“Missed opportunities for us. Sandro Tonali has the chance at the start; if it goes in, it’s a different game. But it didn’t. It’s a difficult one for us. There were chances and moments there. Their main threats came from long shots and they scored one. It changes the whole game. We had enough time to recover and it’s a season where we are constantly challenged. Villa have a similar schedule to us but just executed the final bits a bit better. I felt we could get back in the game but the second goal is a killer blow for us. A lot of our build-up play to around their box was very good . The final ball was really the missing ingredient today. It’s really unlike us to cross behind the goal, cross into the opposition goalkeeper’s hands with the regularity that we did today. We’ve got some outstanding deliverers of a ball. Then when we did get the crosses right, we didn’t fill the box with the right numbers. So it was frustrating in that respect, not through a lack of effort from the players. But normally I think we’re such a good team with our wide play, but it was off today.”
Luis Enrique after a 1-0 victory away to Auxerre:
“It’s always difficult to play away from home, regardless of the team or the stadium. Today, I think we lacked a bit of precision in our passing and also in finishing our chances. But we deserved to win this match. This victory is very important because it allows us to put pressure on Lens. It was by the narrowest of margins, and I think we deserved to win by a larger margin. Winning every match is difficult; we deserved to win in Lisbon, and tonight as well. We managed to score and win, even if it wasn’t our best match. We’ll be able to follow tomorrow’s match, but we need to stay calm and prepare for Wednesday’s game.”
Charity
As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end, for the food bank. However, you can still help out and all online cash donations are very much appreciated. For further info and/or to donate to the food bank online.
Prediction
I think this will be an incredible occasion for the Toon. We’ve looked good in Europe this season and this has the potential to be another cracker. The last time we travelled to PSG, we were devastated to come away with a 1-1 draw. I think we’ll gain the same result but under much happier circumstances. PSG 1-1 Newcastle.