"On a chilly, fun, boisterous night in Paris, with the Champions League mega-table scrolling away in the background throughout a breathless 90 minutes, Newcastle produced a fine away performance at the home of the European champions. A 1-1 draw means Eddie Howe's team will now enter the knockout phase in February, as had always seemed likely. Paris Saint-Germain will now join them there after some late score-ticker malarkey sent the reigning champions into the playoffs."
"Howe will take huge heart from this performance, as a weakened team recovered from a start that suggested the ceiling might be about to fall in. As for PSG, the rest of Europe will look at this team with a little less fear of the furious full-court press that marked last season's post-Christmas run. Newcastle were compact, powerful in the challenge, and really could have won this game in the second half."
"And this was a confusingly murky final group phase game, neither fully alive nor fully dead. Both teams could go straight through or half-through. A draw could take both fully through, depending on a vast number of results elsewhere. There are so many referred problems when you mess with the robustness of a format. Once again the rejigged version had been a meander towards a wildly convoluted final night."
Newcastle drew 1-1 away at Paris, securing a place in the Champions League knockout phase in February. Paris Saint-Germain also progressed after late scoreboard permutations pushed the reigning champions into the playoffs. Newcastle switched to a back three and made five changes, including Dan Burn starting and Joe Willock playing in midfield, and recovered from an unsettling start to produce a confident, powerful display. PSG looked less intimidating than during last season's post-Christmas run. The match unfolded in a chaotic, murky final group phase night that exposed problems with the rejigged competition format.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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