UEFA statement that will leave Newcastle United fuming after controversial PSG equaliser

Newcastle United suffered late heartbreak in the Champions League group stage match at Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.

Alexander Isak's first half opener was cancelled out by a 98th-minute Kylian Mbappe penalty to put PSG in pole position to pip Newcastle to last-16 qualification with a game to spare. The decision to award the penalty came about after Ousmane Dembele's cross deflected off Tino Livramento's chest before hitting his elbow.

A VAR check saw referee Szymon Marciniak review the footage before pointing to the penalty spot. And Mbappe promptly made no mistake to make it 1-1.

Eddie Howe admitted he didn't feel it was a penalty and had to hold his tongue when asked to express his thoughts on the call. And to rub salt into Newcastle's wounds, the decision to award PSG a penalty appears to go against UEFA guidance recommended in April 2023.

A UEFA statement issued last season read: "In their guidelines for next season, the Board recommends that UEFA should clarify that no handball offence should be called on a player if the ball is previously deflected from his own body and, in particular, when the ball does not go toward the goal."

The result leaves Newcastle needing to beat AC Milan in their final group stage match at St James' Park in order to progress and hope PSG fail to win at Borussia Dortmund next month. The Ligue 1 side have not failed to progress from the Champions League group stages since the 2011-12 season.