Kylian Mbappe barely had a kick as PSG lost 4-1 at Newcastle (Photo: Getty)
Rio Ferdinand has slated PSG’s tactics and players after they were humbled 4-1 by Newcastle United in the Champions League.
Newcastle won their first UCL game for 20 years on Wednesday night with a commanding win over one of the giants of European football.
Outstanding goals from Miguel Almiron, Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff and Fabian Schar sent the fans at St. James’ Park into raptures.
As for PSG, the French champions were shocking, with a consolation from Lucas Hernandez their only bright spot in a dismal, with talisman Kylian Mbappe barely getting a kick of the ball.
This was largely down to the Magpies’ impressive pressing, something that Manchester United legend Ferdinand highlighted on TNT Sports:
‘It started from the first whistle. Anthony Gordon setting the tone, the whole team making sure they press. That set the tone for the whole game.
‘What are they [PSG] doing? In the first minute, they were in a good position, but they go back to the goalkeeper. They gave Newcastle chance to get the crowd up.
‘At one point they give the ball away three times in 20 seconds. Really bad starts to each half and they end up getting punished.
‘Slack, lazy, lack of concentration, focus – all of the above. It’s the opposite when you look at the Newcastle team. Truly focused, concentrating, dynamic, aggressive.
‘Tactically you have to get it right on the big stage. If you don’t you get punished especially in an atmosphere, a cauldron like this.
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‘The way PSG approached this game, 4-2-4, light in midfield, lightweight, a 17-year-old [Warren Zaire-Emery] playing there. They got punished at all points.’
‘We wanted to entertain the crowd and get the crowd behind us, but we did well,’ Burn reflected post-match.
‘We knew PSG were not going to change the way they play. The times to play high up the pitch and we had the crowd pushing us, we had that for the last goal with the crowd pushing us on for Fabs’ [Schar] goal.’
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