Newcastle vs PSG LIVE: Champions League result and final score as Fabian Schar screamer completes thrashing

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has told summer signing Harvey Barnes he will still have a key role this season despite seeing him ruled out until the new year.

The 25-year-old is facing at least three months on the sidelines with the foot injury he suffered during Sunday’s 8-0 Premier League win at Sheffield United, an absence which will rule him out of the group stage of the club’s first Champions League campaign for 20 years.

However, head coach Howe is confident his £38million summer signing from Leicester will still have a significant part to play as the Magpies attempt to cope with a congested fixture schedule.

PSG’s last visit to England saw them lose 2-1 to Manchester City in the 2021/22 group stage after they had won 2-0 at home. That is the only one of the French club’s last four games against Premier League opponents they have not lost.

The home win against City in 2021/22 is one of only four Paris victories in their last 14 matches against English sides, home and away (three draws, seven defeats).

Newcastle legend, Alan Shearer, has been bigging up tonight’s match saying that these are the games you want to play in as a footballer.

“As a Newcastle fan, as an ex-player, an ex-manager and someone who loves the club as I do - these are the nights you want,” he told the BBC.

“This is what the team, the management staff and the fans were praying for last season when it was getting a little bit nervy towards the end.

“Tonight, to have PSG and [Kylian] Mbappe come to St James’ Park, the atmosphere will be absolutely electric. I, just like another 52,000, just can’t wait to get to the ground.

“I’ve been lucky enough to play on these nights. It’s a special place on Champions League nights is St James’ Park.”

Kieran Trippier has revealed his own son would rather walk out as Kylian Mbappe’s mascot than the Newcastle United defender when his side face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Trippier’s six-year-old son Jacob will reportedly be a Newcastle United mascot as Champions League football returns to Tyneside for the first time in 20 years.

It will be a momentous occasion for the club who fell below their high standards during Mike Ashley’s ownership – a period which saw them spend two years in the Championship, in 2016-17 and 2009-10.

Newcastle’s last European campaign came in 2012/13 when, under Alan Pardew, they reached the Europa League quarter-finals, losing to eventual runners-up Benfica.

The Magpies are unbeaten at home in Europe since a 2-1 loss to Deportivo La Coruña in the 2006 Uefa Intertoto Cup second leg.

Their record since is nine wins and five draws.

This is Newcastle’s third Champions League group stage campaign and a first since 2002/03, when they finished second in the initial group stage but were eliminated after coming third in their section behind Barcelona and Inter in the second group stage.

The Magpies’ only other group campaign came in 1997/98 when, despite opening with a 3-2 home win against Barcelona they were knocked out having finished third in Group C behind Dynamo Kyiv and PSV Eindhoven.

Newcastle manager, Eddie Howe, spoke in the build-up to tonight’s match and says he is looking forward to having the home fans inside the stadium for this clash against PSG.

“It’s been a good few days for us,” he said, “We’re really looking forward to the game and can’t wait to experience the home atmosphere and what our fans create tomorrow.

“I think it’s going to be a really memorable night and hopefully our performance can make it that way too.

“I think it will be a really great moment for the club as a whole. To be back in the Champions League, at home, one of those magical nights in our stadium - I’m really looking forward to it.

“At the moment, it’s about focusing on the match and what we need to do to try and win.”

As Newcastle United prepare for their first Champions League home match in over 20 years, their owners have far bigger plans, that could well supersede Europe’s premier competition for decades.

The Public Investment Fund and wider Saudi Pro League are targeting Fifa’s first expanded 32-team Club World Cup, to take place in the USA in 2025, to make a major statement of their football power. Such ambitions would also have the added effect of amplifying the prestige of the revised tournament, especially if the Saudi Pro League’s teams at that point feature an even greater proportion of the world’s best players, so as to make it a rival to the Champions League

The next phase of a plan that is both a sporting project and a sportswashing project comes as Uefa have made it clear that Saudi Arabian clubs will not be allowed cross confederations to enter their competitions. Internal and informal discussions about the issue involved arguments over whether allowing such a transcontinental switch would facilitate some form of cost control given the disruptive nature of Saudi spending in the last window, but it was ultimately felt this would be an integration similar to LIV Golf. Uefa would also lose the unique leverage that comes with the Champions League.

Newcastle’s last games against French opponents came in the 2012/13 Europa League group stage, when they beat Bordeaux 3-0 at home on Matchday 2 only to lose 2-0 in France on Matchday 6.

That victory on Tyneside was Newcastle’s first against Ligue 1 visitors since a 2-0 defeat of Metz in the 1996/97 Uefa Cup third round second leg; their record in between those two wins was two draws and one defeat.

This is a first-ever meeting between Newcastle and Paris in a Uefa competition, and it’s an important one.

Having won their opener against Borussia Dortmund, the visitors have a chance to really take control of proceedings in Group F with three more points if they win this evening.