PSG host Newcastle with Champions League last-16 place at stake

Holders Paris Saint-Germain draw the curtain on their UEFA Champions League league-phase campaign as they welcome Newcastle United to the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night.

PSG claimed a narrow 1-0 victory over AJ Auxerre in Ligue 1 last time out. However, Luis Enrique’s side suffered a 2-1 defeat at Sporting CP, and they currently sit sixth in the league-phase standings with 13 points.

Newcastle suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League at the weekend. The Magpies were successful in their last Champions League outing, securing a 3-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven, and are currently sitting seventh in the league-phase standings.

Match preview

Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle’s only previous meetings came in the 2023/24 Champions League – the two sides drew their meeting at the Parc des Princes (1-1), after Eddie Howe’s side had won 4-1 in the first game at St. James’ Park.

This will be Newcastle’s 10th away game against a French side in Europe, while they have only managed one victory from the previous nine (D3 L5): 4-0 v Sochaux in the UEFA Cup in November 2004.

Since the 2013/14 season, PSG have hosted an English side on 16 occasions in the Champions League (W8 D4 L4) – those matches have seen a total of 54 goals scored (31 for, 23 against), at an average of 3.4 per game, and both sides have scored at least once in 14 of the 16 fixtures.

Les Parisiens have lost two of their last four Champions League matches (W1 D1), as many as in their previous 15 combined (W13 L2). They last suffered consecutive defeats in November 2024, losing to Atlético de Madrid and Bayern Munich.

The Magpies have won four of their last six games in the Champions League (D1 L1), keeping a clean sheet in all four victories. Only league phase leaders Arsenal (5) have won more games to nil in the competition this season.

Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon has been directly involved in eight goals in the Champions League this season (6 goals, 2 assists), while the last Englishman with more for an English club in a single edition was Raheem Sterling for Manchester City in 2019/20 (9 – 6 goals, 3 assists).

Since the start of 2025, PSG’s Ousmane Dembélé has been involved in 15 goals in 15 Champions League appearances (9 goals, 6 assists). He has 19 assists in the competition and could be the fifth Frenchman to assist 20+ goals, along with Karim Benzema (27), Zinedine Zidane (26), Thierry Henry (25) and Kylian Mbappé (24).

Team news

Paris Saint-Germain

The host will be without Fabian Ruiz, Joao Neves, Lee Kang-in and Matvey Safonov due to injuries.

Les Parisiens could welcome back Achraf Hakimi to the matchday squad since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations after he was rested in Friday’s win over Auxerre.

Newcastle United

Jacob Murphy, Tino Livramento, Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar and Bruno Guimaraes are sidelined with injuries.

Predicted line-ups

Paris Saint-Germain: Chevalier, Zaire-Emery, Marquinhos, Pacho, Hernandez, Mayulu, Vitinha, Mbaye, Doue, Dembele, Kvar.

Newcastle United: Pope, Trippier, Burn, Botman, Hall, Miley, Tonali, Joelinton, Barnes, Wissa, and Gordon.