It is still so raw, still so difficult for Newcastle United fans to process, never mind accept.
An unfathomable eight minutes of added time, a harsh and questionable VAR handball call, and the deflation of a 98th-minute Paris Saint-Germain equaliser from the spot conspired to deny Newcastle arguably their most impressive European victory.
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It was Kylian Mbappe, stifled by Kieran Trippier, Jamaal Lascelles et al for so long, who dispatched that penalty beyond Nick Pope, as the colossus between Newcastle’s posts was finally, cruelly, beaten. And it was Mbappe, whether inadvertently or deliberately, who took what many felt was a classless swipe at Newcastle.
“It’s frustrating because we dominated this team from start to finish,” Mbappe told Canal+. “They had nothing, we knew it was their game to have nothing… It’s us, the players. We need to kill the match and win comprehensively.”
Perhaps Mbappe did not intend his comments as a slight on Newcastle.
But such remarks evoked memories of the reverse fixture, that famous 4-1 thrashing. The French champions turned up on Tyneside as if expecting to win, and their apparent arrogance was punished by a Newcastle side whose intensity and desire simply blew PSG away.
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That night haunted Luis Enrique, the PSG head coach. “I don’t forget the defeat in Newcastle,” he said after PSG beat AC Milan. “I will remind you of it.”
Presumably, Enrique encouraged his players to recall it as well, to learn and accept that “this team” — as Mbappe referred to Newcastle — reached the Champions League on merit and warranted PSG’s full attention. As recently as Saturday, this injury-ravaged squad hammered Chelsea 4-1, while they have overcome Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United already this season.
At first glance, the full-match statistics largely support Mbappe’s verdict.
An expected goals (xG) return of 4.54 for PSG — their second-highest in a Champions League match since 2014 — to Newcastle’s 1.29. A lofty 31 shots to Newcastle’s five, and seven on target to the visitors’ two. The possession stats were also massively weighted PSG’s way, at 72.4 per cent to Newcastle’s 27.6 per cent.
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Yet, when taken in isolation and without context, they belie the reality of how Newcastle largely controlled the game for an hour. It also ignores the lower xG of 0.94 that Newcastle registered at St James’, to PSG’s 0.93, when Eddie Howe’s side were undoubtedly deserving victors.
In Paris, Mbappe was right to cite PSG’s wastefulness because their profligacy ensured the largest differential between xG and goals scored (-3.54) since Opta began collecting such data in the Champions League in 2013-14.
But taking your chances, as Newcastle did, and punishing opposition mistakes, as Alexander Isak did when he capitalised on Gianluigi Donnarumma’s parry, are characteristics elite sides possess. So too is the ability to frustrate the opposition, to defend valiantly, to make last-ditch challenges like Lascelles and Trippier did, and to produce match-defining saves like we saw from Pope.
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If anything, fatigue and a scarcity of options, plus the VAR referral, cost Newcastle in Paris.
By the interval, when Newcastle led 1-0, the stats were more even. PSG had 63.3 per cent possession to Newcastle’s 36.7 per cent, had managed 14 shots to the visitors’ three, and three on target to the visitors’ two. Their respective xGs were even closer, with PSG’s 1.68 and Newcastle’s 1.24.
And Newcastle certainly had the clearer, more cohesive approach. Led by Miguel Almiron’s relentless running, they chose when to press PSG high and steal possession. Lewis Miley, the 17-year-old, was an assured presence in midfield, with Bruno Guimaraes classy alongside him. Tino Livramento, meanwhile, emulated his fellow defenders at the back and played a crucial role in Isak’s goal (shown below).
Up until the 70-minute mark, Newcastle delivered something Trippier compared to a classic Atletico Madrid performance.
Yet the second half tells a radically different tale. PSG had a staggering 81.7 per cent possession to Newcastle’s 18.3 per cent, managed 17 shots to the visitors’ two, and four on target (Newcastle had none).
It is their respective second-half xGs which were most stark, however, with PSG’s a huge 2.86 and Newcastle’s a meagre 0.05.
That contrast is hardly surprising when the respective resources available to Enrique and Howe are considered — although how the Newcastle head coach managed his players perhaps contributed to the late concession, and may have longer-term ramifications. He did not use a single substitute, while Enrique brought on four, at a combined value of €150m (£129m, $164.8m).
“We didn’t make one sub,” Trippier said. “It was 11 against 16 (actually 15).”
Six of the 14 players who overcame PSG on Tyneside were absent in Paris, including Sandro Tonali, Sean Longstaff and Dan Burn, who started. Howe had to contend with 13 senior absentees due to injury, suspension and ineligibility, while even Alex Murphy and Amadou Diallo, the under-21s who made their debuts against Chelsea off the bench, were not registered.
| Player | Reason for absence |
|---|---|
Knee injury | |
Hamstring injury | |
Ineligible | |
Groin injury | |
Back injury | |
Ineligible | |
Suspended | |
Ineligible | |
Foot injury | |
Shoulder injury | |
Achilles injury | |
Back injury | |
Ankle injury | |
Ineligible | |
Hamstring injury |
The bench spotlighted Howe’s problems. Paul Dummett, who has started two games in 15 months, and Lewis Hall, a 19-year-old with just 17 career first-team appearances, were the only senior options. Howe named two goalkeepers and three 19-year-olds — called up as emergency cover — but still only filled seven of nine slots.
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This “unprecedented” situation means Howe is forced into nigh-on impossible calls. He was confident his first XI could compete with PSG, but he did not seem to hold the same faith in his makeshift bench. Despite watching his side visibly tire, Howe felt that persisting with a weary team was less risky than potentially upsetting the dynamic by bringing on fresh bodies.
Isak suggested that Newcastle “started defending a bit too early” but exhaustion was clearly a contributing factor. The stats here are stark: in the first half, the Premier League side attempted 200 passes, completing 153 of them at a success rate of 76.5 per cent. In the second half and with fatigue setting in, they attempted just 97 passes and only 62 of them were successful (63.9 per cent). Put simply, they struggled to keep the ball and ease the pressure.
The momentum swing suggests that, given the inexperience on Newcastle’s bench, making inexperienced changes would probably not have altered the outcome.
But the after-effects may be more consequential.
Eight players played for more than 180 minutes in four days. All 11 starters saw at least 171 minutes of regulation time, including Isak (171), Almiron (177) and Fabian Schar (180), who have had recent injury issues.
Newcastle are two games into a run of 10 fixtures inside 30 days. Until Christmas, they play matches every weekend and midweek.
Although Emil Krafth and Matt Ritchie are eligible for the Premier League, aside from Longstaff potentially coming back, there are unlikely to be further returnees to lighten the load in the short term.
Newcastle appeared mentally and physically spent at Bournemouth before the international break, and that immediately followed an energy-sapping loss in Dortmund. Will the same happen against Manchester United on Saturday, a team seventh-placed Newcastle can leapfrog with a win? The St James’ crowd should ensure not, but then they head to an emotionally charged Goodison Park next Thursday. For how long can this threadbare squad continue to compete on all fronts?
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For Newcastle to still have an opportunity to progress out of the Champions League group stage, to have advanced to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, and find themselves just five points behind the Premier League’s top four is a testament to Howe’s superb management and the players’ impressive consistency.
Senior figures inside Newcastle have admitted that, given the depleted player pool, they simply have no idea what to expect during a packed December. Still, Manchester United, Milan et al be warned — do not make the same mistake as Mbappe. Newcastle, even stretched wafer thin, remain a seriously good outfit.
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(Top photo: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
