Just over two years after an arduous 1-1 draw at the Parc des Princes, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United meet again in the French capital tomorrow evening. Since that meeting, the Geordies have well and truly made a revival on the continental stage, as shown by their numerous wins in this season's UEFA Champions League: 4-0 over Union Saint-Gilloise, 3-0 over SL Benfica, 2-0 over Athletic Club and, most recently, 3-0 over PSV Eindhoven. With 13 points on the board, the Magpies currently find themselves seventh in the league-phase table and will therefore be hoping to hold onto their place in the top eight.
The aim is the same for Les Parisiens, who are also on 13 points – albeit one place higher in the table – and who will have to beat the English side on Wednesday night if they want to be sure of qualifying directly for the last 16. Despite a solid display against Sporting CP last time out, Les Rouge et Bleu fell to a 2-1 defeat in Lisbon, but thankfully, they had already shone in Europe thanks to their victories over Atalanta BC (4-0), FC Barcelona (2-1), Bayer Leverkusen (7-2) and Tottenham Hotspur (5-3).
2.2 – Newcastle's Bruno Guimarães has played an average of 2.2 line-breaking passes per 90 minutes in the UEFA Champions League this season, which is the highest such total of any player that has played over 300 minutes in the competition.
4 – The Magpies have won four of their last six UCL matches and have kept a clean sheet in each one, with only Arsenal picking up more wins (5) in the league phase so far.
15 – Since the start of 2025, Ousmane Dembélé has been directly involved in 15 goals – scoring nine and assisting in six – in as many Champions League appearances, meaning that he has contributed in one way or another to a goal every 78 minutes on average.
In goal, Eddie Howe is likely to once again call on England international Nick Pope, who is preferred to former Arsenal keeper Aaron Ramsdale. In central defence, the Magpies are still without the experienced Fabian Schär and Jamaal Lascelles, but they can rely on former Lille player Sven Botman and his partner Malick Thiaw, who arrived last summer from AC Milan, with whom he forms an impressive centre-back pairing. At right-back, the tireless Kieran Trippier should once again fill in for the injured Tino Livramento.
On the opposite side, England U21 international Lewis Hall is expected to face the Parisians, while Sandro Tonali will take his place in front of the Newcastle defence. The Italian international will be at the heart of the action at the Parc, having returned to his best form and established himself as a key player for the English side. But more importantly, his usual midfield teammates Bruno Guimarães and Joelinton are unlikely to be fit enough to start the game. With the two Brazilian internationals absent at kick-off, the former AC Milan midfielder is expected to be the key player for his team.
Young Lewis Miley (19) should take advantage of this to once again start in midfield, alongside Jacob Ramsey. Joe Willock, the former Arsenal player, could make an appearance during the match. Newcastle also has no shortage of individual talent in attack, starting with Anthony Gordon (9 goals and 4 assists in all competitions this season), who will be one of his team's main assets on the left flank.
On the right wing, the talented Anthony Elanga is competing with England international Harvey Barnes (12 goals, 2 assists). But the latter, who is more adept in front of goal, seems to have the edge to start against the capital club. It remains to be seen whether Nick Woltemade (9 goals, 4 assists) or Yoane Wissa (7 goals, 3 assists) will be chosen to lead the Magpies' attack. So far, the giant German international (1.98m) has been preferred to the Congolese international, who has played for Angers, Laval, Châteauroux and, most notably, Lorient.
