Newcastle serve PSG dose of Champions League reality in battle of state-backed clubs

By AFP

Newcastle had been waiting 20 years for a night like this and it was worth the wait for 50,000

Geordies as the Magpies blew away Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 to announce their arrival as a

Champions League threat.

The first-ever meeting between the clubs pitted the sporting interests of Saudi Arabia up

against Qatar.

Saudi emerged victorious and in some style as Newcastle's rapid rise less than two years

since the Gulf Kingdom's sovereign wealth fund took control of the club shows no signs of

stopping.

Not since PSG's collapse to lose a 4-0 first-leg lead in a 6-1 defeat at Barcelona in 2017 have

the French champions suffered such a humbling on the Champions League stage.

That embarrassment triggered the club's Qatari owners to break the world's transfer record

twice in a matter of months to land Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Yet, the star-studded project is still yet to conquer Europe and there were lessons for PSG to

learn on and off the pitch at St. James' Park.

Despite spending nearly £400 million ($483 million) on new players, Newcastle are not even

among the top spenders in the Premier League since the Saudi-backed takeover.

Three of their goalscorers on Wednesday -- Miguel Almiron, Sean Longstaf and Fabian Schar

-- were already at the club when they were fighting relegation from the English top flight just

two years ago.

The other, Dan Burn, has fought his way to the top from starting his career in the sixth tier of

English football at Blyth Spartans and cost £13 million from Brighton in 2021.

Both Burn and Longstaf are lifelong fans of their hometown club and grew up watching

Newcastle from the stands of St. James' Park.

"For me and Burny to score is unreal," said Longstaf.

"There's a few here who probably thought three years ago we were out the door. I'm so proud

to be from Newcastle, I'm over the moon."

- PSG outthought and outfought -

PSG have long been criticised for failing to make the most of the hotbed of talent on their

doorstep in the French capital.

Most famously, they lost their only Champions League final to Bayern Munich from a goal

scored by Parisian-born Kingsley Coman, who left PSG as a teenager.

Luis Enrique warned before the game that Newcastle were the side from the lowest pot of

seeds for the group stage that everyone wanted to avoid.

Yet it did not stop the former Barcelona boss from naming three big-money summer signings

Ousmane Dembele, Goncalo Ramos and Randal Kolo Muani alongside Mbappe in a front four.

Not for the first time in the Champions League, PSG's individuals were outthought and

outfought by a greater collective unit.

Roared on by an incredible atmosphere, Newcastle made sure their Champions League

homecoming was a night that will not be forgotten, even if the locals party in the small

hours.

"They will be (proud) and I think they will probably be a bit drunk as well," added Longstaf

on his family's reaction.

"They probably weren't planning to drink on a Wednesday night but that might have

changed!"

Newcastle's new era appeared to have been given a Champions League baptism of fire with

last season's semi-finalists AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund also in the toughest section of

the draw.

But Eddie Howe's men are top of the group after two games.

The hope on Tyneside is that this is just the start of a journey towards one day winning the

Champions League.

Not for the first time, PSG showed a fellow state-backed club how not to go about that goal.