“Tomorrow’s match (Tuesday) will be a huge moment in our season,” Eddie Howe, Newcastle coach, said on Monday on the eve of the clash against Paris SG (9:00 p.m.) in the Champions League, capital for destiny. of both teams.
“We are going to need every drop of motivation or energy for this kind of match, we really have to give everything,” said the coach at a press conference at the Parc des Princes.
He agreed his team needed to “do better away from home”, having recently lost to Bournemouth (2-0) in the Premier League and Dortmund (2-0) in the Champions League. Eddie Howe thus, against his usual habits, organized training Monday evening at the Parc des Princes to allow his team to acclimatize to the field.
Does he want his team to have the same intensity as during the first confrontation against Paris, at Saint James’ Park (4-1 victory)? “We need different tools for different matches, one of our strengths has been intensity, but we have other ways of operating depending on the matches,” he replied.
He regretted that the numerous injuries in his squad prevented him “from making as many tactical variations as wanted”.
“The fear of failure is a motivation in any competition, avoiding that feeling of losing, that applies to this match,” he said. “The motivation couldn’t be greater… We want to make an impact and be in the Champions League for as long as we can.”
While Newcastle are in last place in the difficult group F with 4 points (Dortmund 7, Paris 6, Milan 5), “tomorrow will be a huge moment in our season, we are preparing to do what we have to do”, said concluded Eddie Howe.
“It’s a big match”, “we have to succeed despite the injuries”, “we don’t want to have excuses”, also said goalkeeper Nick Pope.
“I didn’t think we would be in the Champions League so quickly, but we are happy to be there now,” he stressed.
Paris also needs to win to optimize its chances of qualifying before traveling to Dortmund for the final day.