PSG's footballers will have to fight to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League in the play-offs, despite starting this edition of the group stage convincingly with three wins.
Direct qualification eluded the title champions of the competition after a 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle in last round of the group stage.
PSG occupied eleventh place in the table and will fight for the next stage in the play-offs, alongside their opponent on Wednesday, with both teams being top seeds.
Luis Enrique “exploded” after PSG-Newcastle: “Look who we played against. Catastrophe!”
Coach Luis Enrique acknowledged the shortcomings in his team's play, but also pointed out that the Parisians had difficult opponents.
“If there is a team ready for the knockout games, it is us. When you look at the teams we've played against, it's a disaster”, Enrique alluded to the fact that his team did not have any easy opponents on paper in the league stage, apart from the “legends” facing Atalanta, FC Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern, Tottenham, Athletic Bilbao and Sporting Lisbon.
He started the competition with three wins, but the weak end of the league phase sent him only to the play-offs, where he also participated last year.
Luis Enrique on Newcastle draw: 'A very physically strong team'
Ousmane Dembele missed an early penalty (min. 4), but immediately after, Vitinha put PSG ahead. The visitors equalized in first-half extra time through Joe Willock and eventually held on for a 1-1 draw.
Paris' plans were upended by an injury to Georgian striker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who left the field in the 22nd minute.
“It was difficult because Newcastle have a very good and physically strong team. We already knew before the game how difficult it would be, but I think we deserved to win. Nothing can be done, we will have to go a long way, but I don't think anyone else can be considered a bigger favorite than us. At the same time, however, we are aware that we have reserves and we need to improve,” added Enrique.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe: 'This game gave us a lot of confidence'
The opponents of PSG and Newcastle in the play-offs will be AS Monaco and Karabakh, respectively. These are teams ranked 21st and 22nd in the table and the draw for the play-off pairs will take place on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland.
“This was a real test against the holders of the trophy and a team that had huge motivation to win. That's what we wanted too, but we'll go the play-off route and do everything we can to reach the round of 16. I think this game gave us a lot of confidence,” noted Newcastle manager Eddie Howe.
How the Champions League play-off matches look like
The teams that finished 9-16 will be seeded in the play-offs, and the pairings will look like this:
- Real Madrid (9th) and Inter Milan (10th) will be paired with Bodo/Glimt (23rd) and Benfica (24th)
- PSG (11th) and Newcastle (12th) will be paired with Monaco (21st) and Qarabag (22nd)
- Juventus (13th) and Atletico Madrid (14th) will be paired with Club Brugge (19th) and Galatasaray (20th)
- Atalanta (15th) and Bayer Leverkusen (16th) will be paired with Borussia Dortmund (17th) and Olympiakos (18th)
Final Champions League group standings
