‘Perfect’: Ballon d’Or winner has praised Newcastle’s performance against Paris Saint-Germain

 · October 16 2023, 13:59
‘Perfect’: Ballon d’Or winner has praised Newcastle’s performance against Paris Saint-Germain
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Newcastle United fans are still dining out on the 4-1 Champions League win over Paris Saint-Germain, and rightly so, but pundits are still talking about it too.

As Newcastle gear up for their next Champions League adventure against Borussia Dortmund, there are plenty of people still talking about the result at St James' Park where Eddie Howe's men taught PSG a lesson.

One such person who has come out and heaped praise on the Magpies is former Ballon d'Or recipient and AC Milan hero Jean-Pierre Papin. The Frenchman was at the peak of his powers in the early 90's, scooping the coveted prize in 1991. A player I always wanted Newcastle to sign when I was a kid and had no idea how that whole thing worked.

It was while playing for Marseille that Papin truly shone before earning a move to AC Milan with whom Newcastle had a recent Champions League encounter. Picking up just a point from Newcastle then going on to do the same against Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan's hopes of getting out of the group stages of the Champions League aren't looking great.

However, Papin insists that Milan could learn a thing or two from Newcastle according to quotes in The Chronicle.

"Luis Enrique is a fine coach and the problem for Milan will be stopping Kylian Mbappé, because he remains the best out there. It takes a perfect team performance, which is what Newcastle did against PSG. Kylian is a killer, he can make the difference in an instant."

It's always nice to hear someone say your team put out a 'perfect' performance, but when it's someone as revered in the game as Jean-Pierre Papin it means just that little bit more.

Newcastle handled the Mbappe threat brilliantly, in fact, I think Jamaal Lascelles still has him in his pocket.

In reality it was just a superb defensive display with Fabian Schar and Kieran Trippier just as responsible for keeping the French striker quiet.

Dortmund will be an entirely different prospect for Newcastle, but after that display against PSG, they'll go into the next game with zero fear.

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