‘For the best’ – Luis Enrique defends 4-2-4 tactics in PSG’s crushing 4-1 Champions League defeat at Newcastle & claims final score flattered the Magpies

Despite heading out on the road to St James’ Park – with a lively home support ready to cheer the Magpies on – PSG refused to rein in their ambition when paying a midweek visit to England. Luis Enrique stuck with an attack-minded formation that saw Ousmane Dembele, Randal Kolo Muani, Goncalo Ramos and Kylian Mbappe all in the same starting XI.

PSG paid the price for their ambition when being left open at the back, with Newcastle enjoying a dream outing against the Ligue 1 title holders. They were three goals up inside 50 minutes, with the visitors carved open with ease at times.

Despite that, Enrique told Canal+ afterwards when discussing his tactics and the final outcome: “I thought it was for the best, and I still do. Those are difficult games to live through for a manager. I sincerely think the result is a bit unfair, but not totally. Congratulations to Newcastle, they played very good football. They were effective in the last part of the pitch and we made some mistakes, it is hard to accept that. If you make mistakes you pay for that. Their press worked. We tried to put in front of their goal as many chances as possible but we weren’t so effective in the last part of the pitch. But the scoreline is excessive. The result is so big for them. But I think we didn’t deserve that result.”

Lucas Hernandez appeared to suggest afterwards that the wrong approach had been taken, saying it was “the manager’s choice” to field four forwards – while admitting that it “did not work”. Both PSG and Newcastle remain in the hunt for places in the last-16, with Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan the other sides in Group F.