The PSG View

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique said Monday his team were "far" from meeting his expectations and had "room for improvement" ahead of their pivotal Champions League clash against Newcastle.

PSG are second, a point behind leaders Borussia Dortmund in a tight Group F, with AC Milan and Newcastle also targeting the knockout rounds with just three points separating the four teams.

"The team is not yet what I want, but we are still a work in progress," the Spaniard, who took over at the French club in July, told a pre-match press conference.

"We are far from what I hope that PSG is in the future. There are things that I like, a huge desire of the players to do what the coach asks.

"I think we have a lot of room for improvement. We are still searching to find an exact style that I want for this team. We are still far from what I hope to see for the team."

Newcastle stunned PSG 4-1 in the first meeting at St James' Park but are bottom of the group after losing both their matches against Dortmund.

However Eddie Howe's side have been boosted by a Premier League win over Chelsea at the weekend.

"This competition could be very short, in a very complicated group with tight margins, these are decisive matches," continued Luis Enrique. "The Parc des Princes is a cauldron which lifts us."

Newcastle have slid from top to bottom in the standings after successive defeats and would be unable to reach the last 16 if they lose to PSG.

"Newcastle know how to exert pressure very well, they need a victory because they are bottom of the group," said Luis Enrique.

"If you watch Newcastle's game against Chelsea, their physicality is important.

"They went to press with up to six players and they are capable of maintaining a very quick pace. I expect that same intensity against us, but we will be prepared."

The Newcastle View

Newcastle must overcome the might of Paris Saint-Germain and a mounting injury list if the Magpies' first foray into the Champions League for 20 years is not to come to a premature end on Tuesday.

Damaging back-to-back defeats to Borussia Dortmund have left Eddie Howe's men sitting bottom of a devilishly difficult Group F, also featuring last season's semi-finalists AC Milan.

Newcastle must avoid defeat in the French capital to have any chance of reaching the last 16.

Qualification looked well within the grasp of Howe's side when they hunbled PSG 4-1 on Tyneside in October.

But things have since unravelled for Newcastle as an injury crisis has taken its toll despite the club being backed by the riches of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.

Contrary to expectations, Newcastle did not splash their newfound wealth extravagantly in the transfer window by the standards of top Premier League sides.

The club's one marquee summer signing, Sandro Tonali, has been slapped with a 10-month ban for breaching betting rules during his time with Milan.

Harvey Barnes has spent most of the campaign out injured since his switch from Leicester, while young full-backs Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento have only been pressed into action in recent weeks due to injuries to others.

The decision to be more conservative in the transfer market is now coming back to bite, even if Newcastle showed remarkable resolve to thrash Chelsea 4-1 on Saturday without 13 first-team players.

Sven Botman, Dan Burn, Callum Wilson, Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff are among the other key players likely to miss out again at the Parc des Princes.

"You look at the players who were missing and that was a giant performance from the players we have fit," said Howe after Chelsea were swept aside at St. James' Park.

However, the fear for Howe is that his depleted squad have already emptied the tank ahead of facing a PSG side led by Kylian Mbappe with revenge and a place in the last 16 in their sights.

Howe needed to name three goalkeepers and a number of teenagers just to fill his bench at the weekend.

The demolition of the French champions in their first home Champions League match for two decades appeared a statement of intent from a coming power of European football.

- Growing pains -

Newcastle are aiming to follow in the footsteps of Manchester City as a state-backed project that can go onto dominate English football and conquer Europe.

But Howe is not yet working with a squad filled with superstars built to compete with the Champions League elite.

The likes of captain Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar, Longstaff, Joelinton and Miguel Almiron were part of a side fighting relegation when Howe took over just two years ago.

City had to go through plenty of growing pains on the Champions League stage before finally lifting the trophy in June in their 12th consecutive season in the competition.

Newcastle's rise into the Premier League's top four last season came quicker than expected and they were then handed by a distance the toughest Champions League group in this season's draw.

A return to facing Europe's best may have come as a reality check for a depleted squad, but they are still in the fight for the last 16 if they can repeat the feat of keeping Mbappe quiet as they did in October and deliver another bloody nose to PSG.