PSG namecheck 'difficult' Nick Woltemade ahead of Newcastle United Champions League clash
Newcastle United forward Nick Woltemade has been namechecked as a ‘difficult opponent’ for Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
Newcastle United face Paris Saint-Germain in their final Champions League league phase match at Parc des Princes on Wednesday (8pm kick-off GMT).
The winners of the match will almost certainly secure a top-eight finish and progress straight through to the last-16 while the losers would likely have to settle for a knockout round play-off place. A draw puts both sides at risk of dropping out of the top eight and entering the play-off round.
PSG won the Champions League last season but have so far been unable to beat Newcastle in the previous two meetings between the sides in the competition. Newcastle claimed a famous 4-1 win at St James’ Park against Luis Enrique’s side back in 2023 and looked on course to do the double over their French opponents as they took a 1-0 lead into stoppage time in the reverse fixture at Parc des Princes the following month.
But the match was marred in controversy when PSG were awarded a stoppage-time penalty following a VAR check for a handball against Tino Livramento. Although UEFA later admitted a mistake had been made in awarding the penalty, that couldn’t erase Kylian Mbappe’s converted spot kick to rescue a point for PSG as the match ended 1-1.
The result ultimately denied Newcastle progress as they finished bottom of their Champions League group while PSG progressed and ended up reaching the semi-final that season.
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Newcastle United guaranteed progress
Although Newcastle haven’t quite reached the highs of that PSG win at St James’ Park in the Champions League this time around, they have picked up several big wins that has put them in a healthy position with a game to spare.
Despite losing 2-1 to Barcelona and Marseille and conceding late on to draw 2-2 at Bayer Leverkusen, Newcastle have picked up 3-0 wins at home to PSV Eindhoven and Benfica, a 2-0 win over Athletic Club and their biggest ever Champions League win away to Union Saint-Gilloise, which ended 4-0.
Nick Woltemade opened the scoring for The Magpies that day, but is yet to find the net in the competition since.
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‘Difficult’ Nick Woltemade claim made by PSG defender
The German has been labelled a ‘difficult opponent’ by one of PSG’s players that happens to be familiar with him.
PSG centre-back Willian Pacho briefly faced Woltemade during his time in Germany, but before the striker really rose to prominence. The pair last met in a 1-1 draw between Eintracht Frankfurt and Werder Bremen in 2024 with Pacho starting the game for Frankfurt and Woltemade coming on as a late substitute for Bremen.
Pacho ended up joining PSG the following summer, while Woltemade joined VfB Stuttgart on a free transfer. Just over a year later, he secured a £65million club record move to Newcastle.
Looking ahead to Wednesday’s Champions League clash, Pacho referenced Woltemade given he is the only Newcastle player he has previously faced at club level.
“There are always difficult opponents,” he said. “I think Nick Woltemade is a difficult opponent. We have to be focused.
“When Newcastle have the ball they are very good, and they get in behind, so we will need to perform at our best.
“That way we can counter their strength and defend at our best. This is a special match for us because we know that our place in the top eight is at stake.”