Luis Enrique makes Arsenal claim after PSG draw with Newcastle in Champions League

Luis Enrique insists Paris Saint-Germain should still be considered as the favourites ahead of Arsenal to win the Champions League this season.

PSG were held to a 1-1 draw by Newcastle United at the Parc des Princes in their final game of the Champions League league phase on Wednesday night.

That result means PSG and Newcastle both finished outside of the top eight and failed to automatically qualify for the Champions League last-16 stage.

PSG and Newcastle must now wait for Friday’s draw to discover who they will meet in the play-off round. One team will play Monaco, while the other will face Azerbaijani side Qarabag.

Arsenal, meanwhile, were the only team to win all eight of their games in the Champions League league phase and are now regarded by many as favourites to win the competition this term.

Last season, PSG also finished outside of the top eight and were forced to go through the play-off round before winning the Champions League.

Luis Enrique’s side beat Brest 10-0 on aggregate in the play-offs before they knocked out Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal en route to the final, where they ran out 5-0 winners over Inter.

Speaking after PSG’s draw with Newcastle, Luis Enrique was adamant that his side should be considered as favourites to win the Champions League for a second successive season.

‘It was a very good first half. We started positively. We missed a penalty, but we created chances. The equaliser just before half-time hurt,’ Luis Enrique said.

‘Physically, Newcastle are strong. We knew that before the match. We deserved to win, not by a huge margin, but by a little more. We face very different teams in Ligue 1.

‘I have nothing to reproach my players for, even if some didn’t perform at their usual level. I don’t see anyone as a bigger favorite than us in the competition.’

Prefer us to the others? Then tell Google!

As a loyal Metro reader, we want to make sure you never miss our stories when searching for your news. Whether it is the latest politics news explained, live football coverage or a showbiz scoop.

Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.

Luis Enrique added: ‘We can be better, get better results. But we’re here, we’re ready. We’ll see who we play against, Monaco or Qarabag.

‘I’m very demanding of my team. We have to analyse who we’re going to face. We had 13 points before the last match. We deserved to win against Newcastle. The defeat in Lisbon, however, was undeserved.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.