It was another tense night of action between ourselves and PSG in the Champions League, but we were both forced to settle for the play-offs after a 1-1 draw in Paris.

The hosts were awarded yet another controversial penalty inside the opening three minutes, but Nick Pope put in a great save to deny Ousmane Dembele.

Just minutes later however, Vitinha scored from range, and it looked like it would be a rough night for the lads until Joe Willock produced a great header on the stroke of half-time to make it 1-1, which it ended despite all our efforts in a superb second half display.

The result means we will play one of Qarabag or Monaco in the play-offs, and a mouthwatering two-legged clash with either Chelsea or Barcelona up for grabs in the last 16.

Here’s what Eddie Howe had to say after another eventful night in the French capital:

On the performance

On a night when only a win would have really seen us stand a chance of progressing to the last 16 automatically, Howe has assured the fans and his players that are plenty of positives to take from tonight’s draw against the European champions.

“I’m not sure if disappointed is the right word. I think we’re really proud of our performance today, that was a tough game.

“I thought we responded to a really difficult opening, the similarity to two years ago with the penalty decision – I don’t think it’s a penalty in my opinion – but if it is given then the second one needs to be given against Paris, so tough calls there.

“Going a goal down here and coming back I feel is a real boost for us.”

On tactical changes and game management

Amidst our ongoing injury crisis, which wasn’t helped by losing both Joelinton and Bruno from the starting XI over the course of a week, Howe opted for a reliable back three that he’s utilised to great effect in the past.

And despite a rough first half hour of the game, where it looked like Luis Enrique’s side were in firm control, we weathered the storm and eventually turned the tables on the title holders.

“We were conceding too many chances, and I thought Paris played really well in that opening 20 minutes.

“I don’t know if that penalty affected us psychologically, I don’t know if we felt hard done by, but a good response as I say. We didn’t change too much tactically but the players grew in confidence. We started to get more decisive with the ball, brave with the ball, and caused them problems on transitions especially.”

On play-off and knockout stage hopes

With tonight’s draw, both ourselves and PSG will play a two-legged play-off to progress to the round of 16: one of us will draw Monaco, the other will play Qarabag, and then the winners of those games will play one of Chelsea or Barcelona in the last 16 proper.

Whilst the two extra games certainly won’t help our packed schedule, Howe believes the performance will give us a renewed sense of motivation that we can head into these tough future fixtures and know we can deliver big results.

“I think we know that coming here, going to Liverpool, going to Manchester City as we are in next few days, is really tough.

“But off the back of today, and the feeling we’ve got from playing so well and creating chances and defending strongly, hopefully that can help us in those games.

“We wanted to win tonight, we didn’t want the extra games. But we’ll take it. We went down that route in the best possible way with a great performance against the holders. There’s a lot to be positive about.”

On controversial refereeing performance

After the drama of the 2023 group stage game in this exact stadium, the last thing Howe or any Newcastle fan or player would have wanted was repeat shenanigans.

But that’s exactly what we were treat to courtesy of a shambolic refereeing performance. Despite this adversity, Howe has issued praise towards the hosts for their excellent performance against us.

“We had to deal with not just the opponents, who are outstanding, but the decisions that went against us as well. They’re an outstanding team – they don’t need help from anybody.

“You can berate the first decision, but if you think that is a penalty, which the officials did, for me, the next one has to be a penalty as well.

“I don’t think the first one is against Lewis. It hit their player’s arm first, and I just think it is unintentional. I know his arm is slightly detached from his body, but for me, there is no intent there.

“It is the consistency then that you want to see followed through. That is why I think credit to the players as we did not allow that to become a feature for us in the game, we focused on football which was a tribute to our mindset.”

On positive player performances

Dan Burn may have grabbed the official player of the match award for his stellar return from injury, but there were plenty of other candidates who each deserved some exceptional praise.

One of whom was Jacob Ramsey: handed a rare start against arguably the best midfield in world football today, the 24-year-old delivered one of the most complete performances of his young career, which Howe spoke very highly of.

“JJ, that was his best game for us. He was very good with the ball and very good defensively.”