Interesting to see how the French media assessed the performance of the Newcastle United players on Wednesday evening in Paris, how they performed against PSG.
The hosts, who held Eddie Howe’s side back early, awarded a shock penalty, which Nick Pope saved brilliantly. Only for Vitinha to give the Ligue 1 side the lead after eight minutes by firing into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area.
However, as the first half progressed in this huge Champions League match, Newcastle United found their footing and started to give it their best shot.
Just before half-time, Dan Burn won a header in the penalty area and a brilliantly timed Joe Willock ran it past the keeper.
United posed a much bigger threat in the second half, especially when Gordon and Barnes were introduced from the bench.
Newcastle United had some great situations in the later stages and arguably deserved the game, with Harvey Barnes putting a great chance wide of the target when he looked certain to score.
Anyway, L’Equipe has assessed the performances of Newcastle United’s starting XI.
The French media outlet gives all Newcastle United players, as well as Eddie Howe, a rating out of 10.
L’Equipe ratings for Newcastle United players against PSG:
7 Pope
4 Miley
5 Thiaw
6 Botman
7 Burn
5 Hall
5 Tonals
6 Ramsey
7 Willock
4 Garden
6 Woltemade
L’Equipe also gives points out of 10 for the managers, Eddie Howe gets a 7 out of 10.
Before you make a final judgment on how they rated Newcastle United’s players…
The PSG players in the starting eleven and their L’Equipe points out of 10:
6 Safonov
4 judges
4 Marquinhos
6 There
5 Nuno Mendes
6 Zaire-Emery
7 Vitinha
5 Joao Neves
N/A Kvaratskhelia (L’Equipe decides he wasn’t on the field long enough to judge)
4 Dembele
5 Barcola
The French newspaper gives Luis Enrique a score of 5 out of 10.
L’Equipe are known for taking no prisoners when it comes to rating players, as you can see above, especially their own!
Perhaps the most ‘interesting’ of all is the L’Equipe rating for Slavko Vincic.
The match referee receives a 7 out of 10 for his performance.
You have to laugh, he was terrible and incredibly biased in favor of PSG. It’s actually a miracle The team didn’t give him a 10+ out of 10 because the referee was by some distance the top man of PSG!!
PSG 1 Newcastle 1 – Wednesday January 28, 2026 8:00 PM
Match statistics
Goals:
Newcastle United:
Willock 45+2
PSG:
Vitinha 8
Possess was Newcastle 33% PSG 67%
Total shots were Newcastle 10 PSG 25
Shots on target were Newcastle 4 PSG 7
Corners were Newcastle 1 PSG 5
Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 25 PSG 48
Newcastle team vs PSG:
Pope, Miley, Thiaw, Botman, Burn, Hall, Tonali, Ramsey, Willock (Barnes 68), Elanga (Gordon 67), Woltemade (Wissa 79)
Unused subs:
Ramsdale, Harris, Trippier, Osula, Jacob Murphy, Alex Murphy, Bruno, Shahar
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