PSG hoping Newcastle visit can spark another run to Champions League glory / Photo: © AFP
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PSG hoping Newcastle visit can spark another run to Champions League glory
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique on Tuesday 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 Wednesday'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.
PSG and Newcastle met in the old group stage of the Champions League two seasons ago, with the English side winning 4-1 at St James' Park before a 1-1 draw in France.
"We know them from having played them before, so it will be very difficult," Luis Enrique added.
"This is a key point in the season for us, but not as important as the future, because our objective is to win the competition.
"I would take a defeat or a draw if it meant us going on to win the Champions League. The real Champions League begins after this and we are an incredible team in knock-out ties."
The coach said that full-back Achraf Hakimi would be in the squad for the first time since returning from helping hosts Morocco reach the Africa Cup of Nations final -- he has not played for his club since early November.
Eighteen-year-old Spanish midfielder Dro Fernandez, signed on Monday from Barcelona on a four-year deal for a reported fee of eight million euros ($9.6m), is likely to make his first appearance in the squad in PSG's Ligue 1 trip to Strasbourg on Sunday.
L.Meier--VB