Newcastle arrived at the Parc Des Princes on Wednesday with a slightly different mission compared to the 2023 tie, when qualification to the knockout stage was still possible, but less likely after what we can only refer to match-fixing made three points become one in their penultimate fixture.

Already assured of a play-off place this time round, United occupied seventh position at kick-off with the incentive of victory securing progression straight to the last 16 - and giving Eddie Howe's side the luxury of two free February mid weeks in this endurance test of a season.

The sixth-placed hosts meanwhile were in a similar position, requiring victory in order to continue their title defence without a playoff diversion - both sides also stood a mathematical chance of remaining in the top eight by drawing, should results elsewhere fall favourably. 

The referee may have been Slovenian this time rather than Polish, but his bank account number was known to PSG once again, after an utterly dubious decision to award the home side a penalty kick after 45 seconds - the worst miscarriage of justice we've seen since the last time we came here...

The first of a clutch of incredible calls saw an accidental handball by Lewis Miley in his own area due to earlier contact with Bradley Barcoloa's arm bring play to a halt. The inevitable VAR review then sent the onfield referee to the pitchside screen and the dirty deed was done. 

Provider of the cross that had led to the suspicious penalty call last time, Ousmane Dembele this time found himself entrusted with the spot kick, only to be foiled by an excellent stop from Nick Pope to keep the tie scoreless.

The joy was to be short-lived for the 2,000 travelling Mags though, PSG going ahead just four minutes later after Vitinha beat Pope from just outside the box with an accurate low shot.

A Magpies side showing five changes from Sunday's Premier League defeat to Aston Villa looked vulnerable at that point: a back five including fit-again Dan Burn struggling to contain a series of flowing forward movements and Miley getting the runaround on his return to a right back role.

More home goals could have followed but Pope denied Dembele and Kvaratskhelia before the Georgian player left the field after injuring himself upending Anthony Elanga. Another mind-boggling decision from the Slovenian referee saw Newcastle gain the free-kick but the Swede cautioned!

A rather more rapid VAR verdict than PSG had benefited from then saw nothing wrong with a ball making contact with a home player's arm after Nick Woltemade's misguided header from a corner.
 
Despite that though, United began to settle down and gain a foothold in midfield, causing PSG some problems without managing to test Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov.

That all changed in first half added time, as Sandro Tonali's free-kick on the halfway line was met by a defender before Burn nodded the ball across the six yard box for Joe Willock to steer a header in and provide a reminder of the player he once was.

After the break, an unchanged United side altered their approach, restricting the hosts to a minimum of shots while looking to expose them on the counter-attack. By then Barcelona had taken the lead, rendering a point meaningless for the black and whites - and the Parisians, who proceeded to throw top scorer Goncalo Ramos into proceedings.

Those concerted efforts to find a second goal saw Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes introduced, and both of them should have added to their collections of Champions League strikes. Gordon was denied by what looked like a foul that the referee and VAR ignored, while Barnes seemed certain to score late on, but sliced his first-time effort wide.

The linesman's flag was raised after the latter miss, but a review should have found him onside. There again, given the previous antics of the officials, he'd probably have been booked....

Extra time duly concluded with no further opportunity for anti-Magpie malfeasance, leaving the tie as a draw and both sides in exactly the same position as if they'd lost.

Anti-climatic in the sense that both sides failed to hang on to what they had at the first whistle, the outcome didn't detract from the enjoyment of this tie for visiting fans - this the first of a daunting trio of away tests taking us to Anfield and the Etihad.

Those who have called for this formation to be fielded again domestically though don't read the danger in the same way as ourselves, but if nothing else it was one in the eye for the no plan B / always set up the same brigade (that we partly subscribe to).

Howe genuinely rotated his side for once and had the satisfaction of seeing worthwhile performances from both Willock and Jacob Ramsey, justifying their starting place rather than cameo roles from the bench with little opportunity to gain any rhythm in their play. Sadly we're still waiting to write the same thing about Elanga, while the downturn in Woltemade's effectiveness is a head scratcher.

With one eye on what follows, the return of Burn from injury was also massive. He played an integral role in the whole display, culminating in a memorable late dash and cross from the left. Returning from rib and lung damage to play like this is on another level to Marcelino's infamous cut finger....

Three times we've faced PSG now: we're yet to lose to them and once again came mighty close to beating them on their own ground. Regardless of the fact we've managed to expand our fixture list still further, that's something to take a measure of pride from. Au revoir a bientot!

Biffa