Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, PSG star Kylian Mbappe and Newcastle co-owners Amanda Staveley and husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi
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In the months before the Newcastle takeover, as Qatar was facing increasing criticism ahead of the 2022 World Cup, there were discussions within the state over their football strategy going forward. That came amid reports they were willing to sell Paris Saint-Germain.
All of that changed the second that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund completed the purchase of Newcastle. From then, Qatar were sticking with PSG, going all in and potentially even further. The attempt to buy Manchester United through Sheikh Jassim soon followed.
Qatar just couldn’t be seen to exit a field as influential as football once their biggest regional rivals were entering. It was too important, especially in the aftermath of the Gulf blockade.
That cold war has thawed since, as was illustrated by the image of the Emir of Qatar and Mohammed bin Salman together celebrating Saudi Arabia’s win over Argentina at the World Cup. That was an unthinkable sight to anyone who had experienced the Gulf blockade, and means this first ever meeting between the Qatari-owned club and the Saudi-owned club is much less politically charged than it would have been had it come earlier. It should not be forgotten that the 2017 Gulf blockade did lead to real fears that Qatar would be invaded by their much larger neighbours. It still created everyday difficulties – not least the airlifting of cows to supply milk – as the population rallied around the Emir, a genuine football fan.
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That now feeds into a rivalry that would have persisted if the blockade had never happened, driven by a desire for one-upmanship between the wealthiest states in the world. Make no mistake, highly senior figures from both will be watching Newcastle United vs Paris Saint-Germain with emotional investment. It really will be Qatar against Saudi Arabia to many. All of that, of course, comes from more calculated political aims.
Those aims dictate everything that will happen on the pitch at St James’ Park, right down to PSG’s new tactical approach. Of course, this fixture – Newcastle’s first home match in the Champions League in over 20 years – wouldn’t take place on this pitch at all without that geopolitical rivalry. That should actually be an alarming realisation for the game as a whole, since Newcastle United and PSG are two big clubs who were regularly in this competition two decades ago. Right now, though, they are on the other side of all that. Both are part of the growing new elite, entirely elevated by owners who can operate without any financial risk. Other figures in European football wearily dismiss the idea that Newcastle have barely spent, pointing to the £450m that has gone out since October 2021. That is another huge reason they are here.
Newcastle fans have waited two decades for the Champions League music to return to St James’ Park
None of this will matter to Newcastle United fans on the night, even as some will point to how this fixture falls in the same week as the fifth anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder. Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince, who a UN report said was to blame for the journalist’s death, is the chair of the PIF. Saudi Arabia’s government has always denied responsibility for Khashoggi’s death.
There is a stark incongruity to discussing something so serious in the same few paragraphs as football tactics, but this is the modern game. The present for Newcastle will be a raucous stadium on Wednesday, and an atmosphere of the sort that will recall rousing occasions like Tino Asprilla’s hat-trick against Barcelona.
The noise will warrant a similar sense of adventure, but that is where the wider rivalries between the states further affects what happens on the pitch. It won’t necessarily go that way because of the approaches chosen.
Manchester City have become the model for this type of sportswashing ownership given Abu Dhabi were the first to buy a club, and essentially embarrassed PSG with the extent of their success. Even in the context of the Premier League charges – which City insist they have complied with – the English champions have first put in place a proper football identity and ensured everything has followed from that. It was this that led to Pep Guardiola and the Champions League itself.
That is the trophy PSG want most, but they tried to go for it in the opposite way to City, focusing on huge media figures and branding rather than philosophy. It created a soap opera rather than true success, which Kylian Mbappe realised long ago. He has been advocating for change for years, which is why he is almost certain to go to Real Madrid in the summer.
Mbappe has one last shot to win the Champions League with PSG
The prospect of Mbappe leaving has led to PSG finally speeding up planned changes, as they also aim to speed up the team. Luis Enrique has been given licence to do what the French star wanted and create a team driven by intensity and youth.
It is very different to PSG as we know them, but it is the making of a more modern football team.
It is also why Eddie Howe’s approach may not necessarily match the raucous atmosphere. The Newcastle manager isn’t as given to going with the crowd as figures like Jurgen Klopp, and tends to be more tactically pragmatic. That may be precisely what is called for here, especially since going for PSG leaves the intimidating possibility of Mbappe just running at goal.
Given that, as well as how tight this group is and how Newcastle set up for the 0-0 in Milan, it feels like that might be the trend for all of these fixtures. Howe and his squad are taking their first steps into European football, after all, let alone Champions League football.
Newcastle returned to the Champions League with a goalless draw at the San Siro
That isn’t to say there won’t be attacking or Alexander Isak tearing at a porous PSG defence, but it is likely to be much more controlled.
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That could foster a tense game, to match some of the emotions among the senior state figures. A fixture framed by the most complicated geopolitical issues will reduce those responsible for that to the state of nervousness that everyday football fans feel, because of the rivalry between the states, not the clubs. That is a strange truth in itself, at once reflecting the seriousness of all this and the very purity of the sport that makes it so attractive to such interests.
Qatar’s evolved football policy only further reflects this. They are set to stay. So are such influences on the Champions League.
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