‘Ridiculous’ - Alan Shearer slams PSG and makes Newcastle United Champions League observation

Alan Shearer has questioned whether Paris Saint-Germain would be in the Champions League semi-final without their “ridiculous” penalty against Newcastle United.

Toon fans were apoplectic in December when the Ligue 1 giants were awarded a controversial 98th-minute penalty. Tino Livramento was judged to have handled the ball despite Ousmane Dembele’s cross deflecting off his chest first.

Kylian Mbappe buried the resulting spot-kick to spin Group G on its head. Had Newcastle held on, they would have been on the cusp of qualification to the knockout rounds.

The Magpies would have needed a point from the final game against AC Milan at St James’ Park. As it turned out, Howe went gung-ho in search of a win and Newcastle were stunned by the Serie A giants on home soil. 

PSG and Borussia Dortmund progressed and face each other again in the semi-final. Speaking to The Rest Is Football podcast, Newcastle legend Shearer called the Parisians “lucky” while defending his boyhood club.

“PSG have had some luck in this competition because remember that ridiculous decision (Livramento handball),” he said. “I’m not just bringing it up because it’s Newcastle, but they might not be in the Champions League without it?

“We had the group of death! Those two are in the semi-final. If you said to me when Newcastle played both of those teams that they would both be in the semi-final of the Champions League I would have said no chance, not a chance. 

“It just goes to show they got a bit of luck the other night. But they made the most of it, fair play to them.”