Newcastle’s Eddie Howe driven by ‘fear of failure’ against PSG

Eddie Howe said he was “afraid of failure” as Newcastle faced Paris Saint-Germain in their “decisive moment” in the Champions League at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday.

Newcastle will be knocked out of the competition if they lose their Group F match against Luis Enrique’s side in the French capital, despite an impressive start which has seen them pick up four points from their opening two matches, including a 4 -1 against PSG at St James. ‘ Park.

An injury crisis and Sandro Tonali’s 10-month suspension for breaching betting rules left bottom-of-the-group Newcastle without 11 first-team players against PSG.

But during his pre-match press conference in Paris, Newcastle manager Howe said his players had no choice but to “play to the limit” in a match that would shape their hopes of reach the round of 16.

“We have to play on the edge,” Howe said. “Every team is at its best when this emotion runs through them and we need this energy because this is the defining moment of our Champions League campaign.

“We are fully aware of where we are and what we need to do. Our defensive structure and resilience have been good this season, so we need them to be as good as against PSG.

“Fear of failure is a motivating factor in my career: losing is not a comfortable thing, whatever the occasion and of course, that applies to this match.

“I don’t think the motivation could be greater for us. We want to be [the Champions League] as long as we can and that makes tomorrow a huge moment in our season.

“We have a plan and we’re going to try to prepare to execute it and be ready for the game.”

Newcastle flew to Paris on Monday in time for the players to train under the lights at the Parc des Princes after Howe spoke to the media.

This approach is a change from the club’s routine for trips to AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund – a draw and a defeat, respectively, earlier in the group – and Howe said the intention was to help spark a change in fortune after failure to win. of these previous meetings.

“It’s a change of routine,” Howe said. “You never know how it affects performances, but we are looking for an improvement from the two away games so far, which is why we came here earlier today.

“Some players might want that [change] or need it, but doing it this way also gives us more recovery time at home and that’s important with the schedule we have at home. »

A Newcastle win against PSG will kick off a home match against Milan on matchday six which would give Howe’s side the chance to qualify from the group. But Howe said the priority was to take care of business in Paris before considering the importance of the Milan match.

“It’s hard to predict what you’ll need, whether we need two wins or not,” he said. “We can only do what we can and worry about Milan afterwards. It’s just imperative that we don’t lose this one.”