Rio Ferdinand raised a few eyebrows after claiming that Newcastle will be "delighted" to have finished bottom of their Champions League group.
Eddie Howe's men fell at the final hurdle as they were knocked out of competition following their 2-1 defeat to AC Milan at St James' Park. The result saw the Italian side leapfrog the Magpies into third-place and subsequently seal a Europa League spot, with PSG joining Dortmund in the last-16.
After the game, Ferdinand, who was on punditry duty with Jermaine Jenas, insisted Newcastle will secretly be quite pleased not to have dropped into the Europa League, particularly given the extent of their current injury crisis.
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"Eddie Howe and the players can’t say this, but I am guaranteeing you now that they will be delighted not to go into the Europa League," the Manchester United legend said. "The amount of injuries they have got – Kieran Trippier just limped past us here – and a few of them are quite long-term.
"So it makes it very difficult to be batting on many fronts in many competitions when your squad is so threadbare. They have to get these players back fit."
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The Magpies headed into the tie knowing they needed a win, and for PSG to slip up against Dortmund, to progress to the last-16. Joelinton fired them into the lead on 33 minutes via an expertly-taken half volley just inside the box, but Milan came out swinging in the second half and turned the game on its head.
Former Chelsea ace Christian Pulisic equalised just before the hour-mark, and Samuel Chukwueze put Milan in front with his first touch on 84 minutes. In truth, Newcastle's capitulation didn't matter as PSG sealed the point they needed to progress to the next round, but it was nonetheless a devastating evening's football on Tyneside.
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Ferdinand reckoned Newcastle ought to have got the job, especially after creating a number of good chances. "What it tells you at this level is that you have to punish teams and you have to capitalise when you are on top," he said. "Newcastle were by far the better team in the first half, but only came away with one goal.
"The other team are still alive and have a lifeline, and they feel if they get one, they are going to be back in it. Whereas if Newcastle had punished them at that point and going two up, it would have maybe been a different story because they would have had more to hang on to."
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