Newcastle are all but assured of a top 16 finish after their 3-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday but will almost certainly finish in the automatic spots should they beat Paris Saint-Germain in their final group game next week, which isn’t about “revenge”, but also sort of, definitely will be.

“It will be great for our development, but we want to try to go there and win, of course,” Howe said as he looked forward to the game at the Paris des Princes,?where they came within seconds of victory two seasons ago.

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After crushing the Ligue 1 giants 4-1 at St James’ Park in what was then still the group stage of the competition, Kylian Mbappe scored a 98th minute equaliser to break Toon hearts away from home.

“No, it’s not revenge for us.?It was a painful end, but it was a backs-to-the-wall, heroic performance, really. I remember Nick [Pope] making a number of unbelievable saves that night to keep us in front.”

The Newcastle fans won’t have forgotten and neither will the players, who rarely need too much encouragement to snap into challenges and put themselves about. That aggression ended up costing Bruno Guimaraes on Wednesday, though not in the way it probably should have done.

The Newcastle captain escaped with a yellow card for his studs-up challenge on?Joey Veerman, though ironically came off worse than the fortunate PSV midfielder, and left the field to chants of “Bruno, Bruno” just before the half-time break in what Howe is desperately hoping isn’t too serious an injury.

“Yeah, a little bit sore. It’s an ankle problem,” Howe revealed after the game. “A little bit of swelling in his ankle. Having just seen him, we hope it’s not serious. Difficult to know.

“I think Bruno is the type of player that never wants to come off. He always wants to play, so the fact he has come off is a worry for us.

“We’ll do everything we can to get him fit as quickly as possible.”

Anthony Gordon puts Newcastle 2-0 up ??

But is Bruno Guimaraes lucky to still be on the pitch? ?? pic.twitter.com/kbq2clLev9

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) January 21, 2026

The Magpies carried a 2-0 lead into the break following goals from Yoane Wissa and Anthony Gordon before Harvey Barnes added a third midway through the second half.

Veerman insists he was “lucky” not to have left the field with a broken leg after a “truly outrageous” challenge by Guimaraes.

He told De Telegraaf: “It hurts. It’ll probably last a while. It’s truly outrageous. He touched the ball first, he said. That’s why it wasn’t a red card. If this isn’t a red card, it’s over.

“He puts his foot full force over the ball and comes full force with his studs under my shin guard and on top of my ankle. If you’re unlucky, you’ll break your leg. I think I was lucky.”