PSG hoping Newcastle visit can spark another run to Champions League glory

Paris: Paris Saint Germain coach Luis Enrique yesterday insisted he would accept losing to Newcastle in their final league phase outing of this season...

Paris: Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique yesterday insisted he would accept losing to Newcastle in their final league-phase outing of this season’s Champions League if they can go on to win Europe’s elite club competition for the second year running.

PSG and Newcastle come into today’s decisive encounter at the Parc des Princes in sixth and seventh place respectively in the 36-team standings, level on 13 points but with the reigning champions having scored more goals.

Whoever wins will be guaranteed a top-eight finish, which grants direct qualification for the last 16. However, a draw could knock both sides out of the top eight, depending on results elsewhere -- the nine sides directly beneath them in the table are all within two points.

The latter scenario would leave PSG and Newcastle facing an extra two-legged play-off round next month, which is what PSG came through last season before going on to win the title in style.

“This is a competition that we clearly like, which is a positive thing. Of course our aim is to finish in the top eight, and to beat a very good Newcastle team who have a different style, brave and physical,” Luis Enrique told reporters on the eve of the match in the French capital.