Christian Pulisic's First Champions League Goal In 21 Months Helps AC Milan Knock Out Newcastle As PSG Survive Scare To Reach Last 16
Paris Saint-Germain qualified for the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League for the 12th year in a row following a tense Group F finale.
PSG finished second in the group with eight points after drawing 1-1 at table-toppers Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
The French champions would have finished third, behind AC Milan, had they lost in Germany.
Milan won 2-1 away at Newcastle on Wednesday thanks to strikes from Christian Pulisic and Samuel Chukwueze.
Those goals came after a Joelinton golazo had rocketed Newcastle into the lead in the 33rd minute.
Newcastle went into Wednesday's final round of group fixtures knowing that they needed to beat Milan and hope that PSG would not win at Dortmund.
Both games were played simultaneously, with UEFA even taking steps to synchronize the kick-off times of the second halves.
After Joelinton's thunderbolt had given Newcastle a dream start, things got even better for Eddie Howe's men when news came through that Karim Adeyemi had put Dortmund 1-0 up against PSG six minutes into the second half.
But the pendulum then swung in PSG's favor courtesy of two goals in three minutes.
The first was scored on 56 minutes by Warren Zaire-Emery in Germany to draw PSG level against Dortmund.
Pulisic then equalized for Milan at Newcastle in the 59th minute with a first-time finish from close range after an Olivier Giroud assist.
This was the American's first Champions League goal in 21 months. His last had come in March 2022 for Chelsea in a 2-1 win at Lille.
Christian Pulisic pictured celebrating after scoring for AC Milan in a 2-1 win at Newcastle United
IMAGO/News Images/Mark Cosgrove
Newcastle were still just one goal away from reaching the knockout phase of the Champions League for the first time ever.
But an 84th-minute strike by Chukwueze eventually saw the Magpies exit Europe altogether as Milan's 2-1 win secured third place and a spot in the Europa League.
Champions League Group F Final Standings
| MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Dortmund | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 11 |
2. PSG | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 8 |
3. Milan | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 8 |
4. Newcastle | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 5 |
