Guimaraes has scored 11 goals in 64 matches for Newcastle and has played a significant role in the club’s turnaround under Eddie Howe. Isak joined The Magpies last summer for a club record deal and has gone on to score 15 goals in 34 matches for the club despite being hit with a significant injury blow just three games into his spell.

Isak is Newcastle’s top scorer so far this season with five goals in seven matches.

In addition to Guimaraes and Isak, Real Madrid also have a keen eye on PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe, who is set to feature after a slight injury scare.

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Report: Sandro Tonali could miss PSG clash

Keith Downie of Sky Sports has this morning revealed that Sandro Tonali is a new doubt for the Magpies’ massive clash with Paris Saint-Germain at St. James’ Park on Wednesday.

 

Newcastle could just have three senior midfielders fit

The Italian international midfielder was not sighted at training on Tuesday and could have joined fellow central midfielders Joelinton (hamstring) and Joe Willock (achilles) on the sidelines, leaving head coach Eddie Howe very short of options in the centre of the park.

Sean Longstaff, Bruno Guimarães, and Elliot Anderson are all fit and well, thankfully, and should start against Luis Enrique’s men, as they did in the 2-0 win over Burnley on Saturday. Lewis Miley is in reserve if required and Lewis Hall is also capable of playing in midfield.

Neither of the youngsters covered themselves in glory in the recent Carabao Cup win over Manchester City, however. The game changed in Newcastle’s favour when they were replaced by Guimarães and Anthony Gordon at half-time, with Howe saying as much himself in his post-match interview.

Emil Krafth (knee) is still not ready to return to first-team action, though did feature for the U21s in a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest on Friday night. That was his first match in 13 months.

Sven Botman (knee) and Callum Wilson (hamstring) are also set to miss the huge clash with the French champions and may not be fit to play against West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday either.

Harvey Barnes (toe) is also a long-term absentee, being set to miss around three months of football despite not requiring surgery on what Howe called “an unusual injury”.

Newcastle United will host a match in European competition for the first time since a UEFA Europa League quarter-final draw with Benfica in April 2013, while it’ll be their first UEFA Champions League match at St. James’ Park since losing 2-0 to Barcelona in March 2003 over 20 years ago.

They began life back in the UCL with a 0-0 draw at AC Milan, winning a point despite being under pressure for large spells of the game. Their expected goals (xG) total on MD 1 against Milan was just 0.28 – the second lowest of any team in the opening round of the 2023-24 competition. Indeed, they only recorded one shot on target in the match and that came in the 95th minute through Sean Longstaff.

However, it was a clean sheet for goalkeeper Nick Pope. He became the fifth English keeper to keep a clean sheet on his first UEFA Champions League start, and the first since Fraser Forster in 2012. No English keeper has ever kept a clean sheet in their first two starts in the competition before.

Paris Saint-Germain feel very much in a transition phase under new Spanish boss Luis Enrique. Some huge names have departed the club this summer, including Lionel Messi, Neymar, Sergio Ramos and Marco Verratti. They’ve been replaced by younger talent such as Hugo Ekitiké, Lee Kang-in, Gonçalo Ramos, Bradley Barcola and Randal Kolo Muani as well as more established and experienced stars like Milan Škriniar, Marco Asensio and Ousmane Dembélé.

Of course, they’ll be looking to captain Kylian Mbappé for inspiration on Wednesday night. The French striker has scored a UEFA Champions League goal against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester United at Old Trafford and Liverpool at Anfield. He could become the fourth player to score an away goal at four different English venues in the competition, after Cristiano Ronaldo (five), Lionel Messi (four) and Robert Lewandowski (four).

This will be the first ever competitive meeting between Newcastle United and Paris Saint-Germain.

Eddie Howe will be hopeful of PSG continuing their poor record against English clubs in Europe. They have lost five of their last seven Champions League games against English sides, with the exceptions being a 3-1 win at Manchester United (December 2020) and a 2-0 home win over Manchester City (September 2021).

Newcastle’s European record versus sides from France isn’t much better, however. They have won just three of their 13 meetings with French opponents in all competitions (D4 L6).

PSG boss Luis Enrique has positive memories of St. James’ Park as a player. He was the first player to score a UEFA Champions League goal against Newcastle, doing so for Barcelona in September 1997 in a 3-2 defeat on Tyneside. He’s won 15 of his 19 group stage matches as manager (D2 L2), although one of his defeats was in England against Man City back in November 2016 when Barcelona boss (3-1).