Holder PSG happy to take play-off route again

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique insisted Wednesday that a "catastrophic" run of Champions League matches against some of Europe's best sides had set his team up perfectly for the play-off round, as he shrugged off suggestions that not qualifying directly for the last 16 was a failure.

"If any team is ready for the playoffs, and for whoever we have to play, it is us — when you look at the teams we have played, it is catastrophic," the Spaniard said after the reigning European champion finished the league phase with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United.

The Premier League club was in the bottom pot of seeds and PSG ended up facing the Magpies instead of comparative minnows such as Pafos and Kairat Almaty.

Only one of its eight opponents in the league phase came from outside Europe's four biggest leagues, and that was Portuguese giant Sporting.

"We need to improve, I accept that," added Enrique, as PSG finished the league phase in 11th place with 14 points — 10 points fewer than first-placed Arsenal.

The French giant, which won the Champions League for the first time in its history last season, began this campaign with three straight victories, but Wednesday's result left it with just one win in its last five continental outings.

Ousmane Dembele had an early penalty saved at the Parc des Princes before Vitinha put PSG in front in the seventh minute, only for Joe Willock to equalize for Newcastle in first-half injury time.

"It was hard because they are a very good and strong team physically, and we knew before the game how difficult it would be, but I thought we deserved to win," said the former Barcelona boss, who saw Khvicha Kvaratskhelia leave the game early with an ankle injury.

"We knew it was a possibility that we might have to go into the playoffs. We will have to take the long route, but I don't think anyone else can be considered favorites more than us."

PSG had to go through the playoff round last season on its way to glory, hammering French rival Brest 10-0 on aggregate before seeing off Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal en route to the final, where it demolished Inter Milan 5-0.

'A real acid test'

PSG and Newcastle will discover the identity of their opponents for February's play-offs when the draw takes place on Friday.

One will play Monaco and the other will take on Qarabag of Azerbaijan, the sides who finished 21st and 22nd, respectively, in the 36-team standings.

Newcastle, which is ninth in the Premier League, now faces the prospect of having to play eight games in February, but coach Eddie Howe said holding PSG would give his team confidence going forward.

"This was the real acid test here, against a team motivated to win and the holders of the title," he insisted.

"We keep pushing on. I think we wanted to win tonight — we didn't want the extra games, but we will take it, we will go down that route.

"I think we will (face it) in the best possible way after a strong performance against the holders, so if there is ever a game we need to look at to give us confidence, it is this one."

Howe, who was unhappy with the early penalty awarded against his team for a Lewis Miley handball, added: "We probably would have taken this at the start of the campaign.

"We set out to qualify (for the last 16) outright, but you take every eventuality that falls your way — we gave everything we could to try to finish in the top eight, we didn't quite get there, so we have to take another route."