Uefa Champions League football returns to St James' Park with a visit from Paris Saint-Germain as Newcastle United look to build on a promising start in group F.
The Magpies' first game in the competition since 2002-03 ended in a creditable 0-0 draw at last season's semifinalists AC Milan. Paris, however, will also be in good spirits after second-half goals from Kylian Mbappé (49pen) and Acharaf Hakimi (58) earned a 2-0 home victory against Borussia Dortmund on matchday one.
This is the sides' first meeting, although both have plenty of experience against teams from their opponents' country.
FORM GUIDE
NEWCASTLE
Record v French clubs: W3 D4 L6 F16 A18
Home record v French clubs: W2 D2 L2
Newcastle's last games against French opponents came in the 2012-13 Uefa Europa League group stage, when they beat Bordeaux 3-0 at home on matchday two only to lost 2-0 in France on matchday six.
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 D2 L1.
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 in which Faustino Asprilla scored a hat-trick, they were knocked out having finished third in group C behind Dynamo Kyiv and PSV Eindhoven.
Newcastle's last European campaign came in 2012-13 when, under Alan Pardew, they reached the Europa League quarterfinals, losing to eventual runners-up Benfica (1-3 a, 1-1 h).
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 W9 D5.
Home and away, the English side have lost only two of their last 15 European games (W5 D8).
Newcastle have lost only two of their last 19 Uefa club competition group stage matches (W10 D7).
The Tynesiders' home record in the Champions League group stage is W5 L4.
Eddie Howe's side were fourth in the Premier League in 2022-23, their highest league finish since coming third under Sir Bobby Robson in 2002-03.
PARIS
Record v English clubs: W10 D8 L11 F37 A37
Away record v English clubs: W3 D4 L7
Paris's last visit to England brought a 2-1 loss at Manchester City in the 2021-22 group stage; they had won 2-0 at home, although that is the only one of the French club's last four games against Premier League opponents they have not lost.
The Parisiens had won successive games in England, both in Manchester, before losing on their previous visit, also at City, in the 2020-21 semifinal second leg (0-2) to complete a 4-1 aggregate defeat. They recorded a 2-0 victory at Manchester United in the 2018-19 round of 16 first leg, a tie they lost on away goals (1-3 h) before a 3-1 group stage win at Old Trafford in 2020-21.
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 (D3 L7).
This is Paris's 16th Champions League group campaign, level with Lyon's French record. They have featured every season since 2012-13, reaching the knockout stages in all 11 of those most recent campaigns.
Runners-up to Bayern München in the 2020 final, Les Parisiens were again beaten by the German club in last season's round of 16 (0-1 h, 0-2 a). They had finished second in group H behind Benfica, picking up 14 points.
The French side have lost in the last 16 in five of their last seven Champions League campaigns.
Paris have been victorious in 12 of their last 26 away Uefa Champions League fixtures (D5 L9), but a 2-1 matchday six win at Juventus last season is one of only two successes in their last nine (D3 L4).
The matchday one defeat of Dortmund made it ten victories in the Parisians' last 22 European matches (D5 L7).
Paris claimed their 11th French title, and ninth in the last 11 seasons, finishing one point ahead of Lens at the top of the Ligue 1 table.
The French club replaced coach Christophe Galtier with Luis Enrique in the summer.
LINKS AND TRIVIA
Have played together:
Sandro Tonali & Gianluigi Donnarumma (AC Milan 2020-21)
Bradley Barcola was in Lyon's reserve team while Bruno Guimarães was at the club between January 2020 and January 2022.
Have played in France:
Sven Botman (LOSC Lille 2020–22)
Bruno Guimarães (Lyon 2020–22)
Have played in England:
Keylor Navas (Nottingham Forest 2023 loan)
Vitinha (Wolverhampton Wanderers 2020/21)
International teammates:
Sandro Tonali & Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy)
Bruno Guimarães, Joelinton & Marquinhos (Brazil)
Martin Dúbravka & Milan Škriniar (Slovakia)
Ousmane Dembélé scored from an Mbappé assist against an England team featuring Kieran Trippier in France's 3-2 friendly win in June 2017.
Gonçalo Ramos hit a hat-trick and provided an assist in Portugal's 6-1 win against Fabian Schär's Switzerland in the Fifa World Cup 2022 round of 16. Schär was withdrawn at halftime, while Vitinha was a late Portugal substitute.
Carlos Soler gave Spain an early lead against Sweden in 2022 World Cup qualifying on 2 September 2021, Alexander Isak quickly equalising for the visitors, although Spain went on to win 2-1.
A Newcastle player from 2011 to 2014, Yohan Cabaye is today a sporting coordinator in Paris' academy.
LATEST NEWS
NEWCASTLE
Summer transfers
In: Sandro Tonali (Milan), Yankuba Minteh (Odense, loaned to Feyenoord), Harvey Barnes (Leicester), Tino Livramento (Southampton), Lewis Hall (Chelsea, loan)
Out: Matty Longstaff (released), Ciaran Clark (released), Karl Darlow (Leeds), Allan Saint-Maximin (Al-Ahli), Garang Kuol (Volendam, loan), Jamal Lewis (Watford, loan), Ryan Fraser (Southampton, loan), Jeff Hendrick (Sheffield Wednesday, loan), Isaac Hayden (Standard Liège, loan)
Newcastle's record in this season's Premier League is W4 L3. They made it three league wins in a row on Saturday as goals from Miguel Almirón and Alexander Isak, a penalty, earned a 2-0 home win against Burnley.
That made it five matches unbeaten in all competitions (W4 D1).
Eddie Howe's side lost three of their first four Premier League games this season; they did not suffer their third defeat in 2022-23 until their 24th fixture.
The Magpies beat Aston Villa 5-1 on the opening weekend of the season but then lost at Manchester City (0-1) and Brighton (1-3) either side of a 2-1 home defeat by Liverpool.
Having not kept a clean sheet in their first four games in all competitions, Newcastle have not conceded a goal in their last five outings.
Kieran Trippier has four assists in this season's Premier League, all in his last two games - no other player has more this season.
The matchday one draw against Milan was followed by an 8-0 win at Sheffield United on 24 September – the eight different goalscorers represent a new Premier League record.
Three days later an Isak goal gave Newcastle a 1-0 home win against Manchester City in the English League Cup third round.
The Tynesiders will visit Manchester United in the last 16 in the week beginning 30 October.
Joelinton returned to play 90 minutes against City having not played since 12 September after suffering a knee injury while on international duty with Brazil. However, having come on as a second-half substitute on Saturday, he limped off four minutes later.
Joe Willock is still to play this season; having suffered a hamstring injury in May, he then picked up an Achilles problem in early September that was expected to keep him out for a further six weeks.
Harvey Barnes went off early at Sheffield United with a foot injury and has not played since.
Dan Burn (virus), Sven Botman (knee) and Callum Wilson (hamstring) all missed the win against Manchester City. Burn played 90 minutes on Saturday, but Botman and Wilson were still absent.
Emil Krafth (knee) and Javier Manquillo (groin) have also not yet featured in 2023/24; neither has been included in the Champions League squad although Krafth played his first game in 13 months for the club's Under-21 side on Saturday.
Anthony Gordon was named Player of the Tournament as England won the Uefa European Under-21 Championship this summer; he scored two goals and set up one more during the finals in Georgia and Romania.
PARIS
Summer transfers
In: Hugo Ekitiké (Reims, loan made permanent), Lucas Hernández (Bayern), Milan Škriniar (Inter), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), Manuel Ugarte (Sporting CP), Kang-in Lee (Mallorca), Cher Ndour (Benfica), Xavi Simons (PSV Eindhoven, loaned to Leipzig), Arnau Tenas (Barcelona Atlètic), Gonçalo Ramos (Benfica, loan), Ousmane Dembélé (Barcelona), Bradley Barcola (Lyon), Randal Kolo Muani (Frankfurt)
Out: Junior Dina Ebimbe (Frankfurt), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Sergio Ramos (released), El Chadaille Bitshiabu (Leipzig), Mauro Icardi (Galatasaray, loan made permanent), Hugo Lamy (Bellinzona), Lucas Lavallée (Dunkerque, loan), Mahamadou Diawara (Lyon), Romaric Etondé (Monaco), Djeidi Gassama (Sheffield Wednesday), Neymar (Al-Hilal), Abdou Diallo (Al-Arabi), Leandro Paredes (Roma), Renato Sanches (Roma, loan), Noha Lemina (Sampdoria, loan), Ismaël Gharbi (Lausanne, loan), Vimoj Muntu Wa Mungu (Torino, loan), Colin Dagba (Auxerre, loan), Juan Bernat (Benfica, loan), Nehemiah Fernandez-Veliz (Dunkerque, loan made permanent), Thimothée Pembélé (Sunderland, loan made permanent), Georginio Wijnaldum (Al-Ettifaq), Marco Verratti (Al-Arabi), Édouard Michut (Adanaspor, loan), Julian Draxler (Al-Ahly)
The French champions suffered their first defeat of the season on 15 September, going down 3-2 at home to Nice despite two goals from Kylian Mbappé.
Randal Kolo Muani marked his Paris debut by setting up Mbappé's first goal and scored his first goal in a 4-0 win against Marseille on 24 September.
Mbappé was forced off with an ankle injury just after the half-hour against Marseille but returned to the starting line-up for Saturday's 0-0 draw at Clermont.
Mbappé has seven Ligue 1 goals in his six outings this season, scoring twice in three successive games before going off against OM.
Gonçalo Ramos scored his first Paris goals with a double against Marseille.
Achraf Hakimi had scored in two games in a row before the weekend and has three goals in his last five Paris appearances in all competitions.
Paris have 12 points after seven league games this season, seven points less than at the same point in 2022-23. It is their lowest total at this stage of a Ligue 1 campaign since 2010-11, when they had 11 at the same point.
Paris were top of the table from the first matchday to the last in 2022-23.
Presnel Kimpembe (out since 26 February, Achilles tendon) and Nuno Mendes (hamstring) are both still to appear this season. The latter underwent surgery last week and is expected to be out for four months.
Kang-in Lee was out with a muscular injury between 19 August and 19 September, when he returned as a late substitute. He then left to join South Korea at the Asian Games until 8 October.
Marco Asensio, who withdrew from Spain squad on 8 September after a foot injury, is expected to be sidelined until the end of the month.
Marquinhos was voted Paris captain this summer by his teammates.
Mbappé and summer signing Kolo Muani have been included on the 30-player shortlist for the Ballon d'Or, which will be announced in Paris on 30 October.