Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique insisted Wednesday that a catastrophic run of Champions League matches against some of Europes best sides had set his team up perfectly for the play-off round as he shrugged off suggestions not qualifying directly for the last 16 was a failure.
The Premier League club were in the bottom pot of seeds and PSG ended up facing the Magpies instead of comparative minnows such as Pafos and Kairat Almaty.
Only one of their eight opponents in the league phase came from outside Europes four biggest leagues, and that was Portuguese giants Sporting.
