Newcastle United 'defining' message ahead of PSG as mockery made of Kylian Mbappe claim - Paris day one

Paris may be 'the city of love' - but there was no love lost between Newcastle United and Paris Saint-Germain supporters in the French capital on Monday night.

For all the joy and excitement of Champions League away days, they also bring with them an underlying sense of tension and unease. After PSG's 4-1 humiliation at St James' Park last month, it would seem their supporters wanted some form of revenge away from the pitch.

A group alleged to be PSG Ultras launched an attack on a Parisian bar in which a number of Newcastle fans had congregated. Large groups of people in black clothing and balaclavas were also spotted wandering the Paris streets late on Monday.

Intimidating - of course - but no one appeared to be in any serious danger as various eye-witnesses have since played down the incidents. Still, it's just the ugly side of the beautiful game rearing its head once again without a ball even being kicked.

It wasn't just the locals who gave Newcastle fans a frosty reception, it was the weather too. PSG star Kylian Mbappe once dismissed Newcastle as 'not warm', yet Monday saw near-freezing conditions in Paris.

Cold, wet and miserable without any football to warm things up just yet. So far it's hard to romanticise what could be Newcastle's final Champions League away day of the season - hopefully 90 minutes on Tuesday night will change things.

A change of approach from Eddie Howe ahead of Newcastle United's 'defining moment'

A reasonably long Metro journey out of central Paris brings you to the concrete bowl of PSG's Parc des Princes, where Eddie Howe and his squad arrived on Monday evening. Unlike the AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund matches, The Magpies opted to train inside the stadium ahead of the match.

Perhaps an element of superstition was at play with Newcastle failing to score on their Champions League travels so far this campaign. But the pragmatic Howe explained training at the stadium has given his depleted squad more time to recover and spend time with their families ahead of the crucial match.

And when addressing the media, Howe was keen to stress the importance of a game he described as 'a defining moment'.

"This is a one-off game for us," he said. "Quite how we are going to prepare and play, you will have to wait and see.

"The hallmark of how we play, the fundamentals, can never change. But there will always be tweaks how we play according to the opposition, as there always is. "It is good to have a mixture of emotions going into the match. I think we need to play on the edge, that's when we are at our best.

"This is a defining moment in our Champions League campaign, we are well aware of where we sit in the group and what can happen tomorrow, so we are going to give it everything."

The Magpies shocked the football world with a 4-1 win over PSG in the reverse fixture. Realistically, they will need to repeat that feat in order to remain in the competition. A draw would be enough to keep their last-16 hopes alive unless AC Milan beat Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday evening.

If they want to remain in the competition heading into 2024, losing is not an option.