It’s a knockout: Newcastle face make-or-break Champions League trip to Paris
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique admits their Champions League match with Newcastle United on Tuesday has a knockout feel as the competition’s group of death enters its final throes.
Newcastle sit bottom of Group F with two rounds remaining and need at least a draw in the French capital to keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stage. PSG, meanwhile, can book their place in the last 16 if they beat the Magpies and Borussia Dortmund defeat AC Milan.
“It is a very complicated group and the ranking is really close. Now every game is decisive, it’s knockout style,” said Luis Enrique.
“Two teams could be qualified already tomorrow night depending on the results. I’m sure that my team is ready to play, to be competitive on the pitch, and that’s what we’ve been proving throughout the entire season.”
Injury-hit Newcastle’s list of absentees runs into double figures and have won just twice away from home all season, but they scored an emphatic win over PSG in the first clash and impressed the Parisians with their ferocity in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Chelsea.
“If you saw the last match against Chelsea, physically it’s really incredible,” Luis Enrique added. “Six players are putting on so much pressure, they can pressurise eight players at the same time. This intensity in their game and pressure is something that we need to be prepared for.”