It’s time to rewind and do everything backwards, which sometimes takes no effort at PSG. Usually, in the round of 16, the club from the capital begins by shining, rolling at home Barcelona 4-0 during a collective masterpiece, winning Manchester United 0-2, surprising Real Madrid 1-0 before falling like a soufflé out of the oven. 6-1 in Barcelona, 1-3 at Parc against the English, 3-1 in Madrid on March 9, 2022 with a predominantly psychological form of disintegration. This time, the ball was committed from the first leg, with a 0-1 defeat during a very annoying non-match that the entry of Kylian Mbappé in the 57th, back from injury at the time, has transformed.
Since in the European Cup, Paris only allows itself one good match in the return matches, it is the day to come out on the tails, after the dark side displayed on February 14. Back to the wall, Christophe Galtier’s team no longer has a choice and in three weeks, the decor, fortunately, is no longer the same. Three league successes followed three defeats in different competitions, the first with the star striker, the second without him at kick-off.
VIDEO. Bayern-PSG: the reasons to believe in the feat of the Parisians
The major unknown lies there, in the ability of Bayern Munich to defend on the Bondynois. His thirty minutes last month sowed an impossible discord among the Germans, suddenly gripped by fear, changing face and attitude, surrendering to faults, a personal second leading to the expulsion of Benjamin Pavard after a tackle on Leo Messi.
The success claimed – only a victory can lead to an extension or a qualification – passes by this bordélisation caused by the rebellious Mbappé, the man who never gives up, neither in Doha in the final of the World Cup, nor against Nantes on Saturday last to score his 201st red and blue goal and set himself up as the only record holder on the subject.
The Parisian salute is between the feet of the 2018 world champion, accompanied by his successor in 2022, Leo Messi. It is in this ease of reading for the adversary – to contain the two attackers, it is to annihilate the PSG – that the limit of the partners of Marquinhos intervenes. Paris lacks variety in its threat and the Bavarian defenders look superior to those of Lille, Marseille or Nantes, met recently. But it is possible that they have never faced in their season two players as strong as the duo of the amputated MM for the rest of the season of the N of Neymar, eternally absent from the big games.
Score, the Parisians know how to do. Defending, in front of a historically forward-looking Bayern, much less. Marquinhos suffers from the ribs, Sergio Ramos from a slowness deficit and Gianluigi Donnarumma sometimes struggles to model the balance of power that presents itself to him. Given the imbalance of PSG, lightning in front, fragile behind, it would be a feat for him to qualify against Bayern and even in front of any other team on the Continent. Before being great all the time, let Paris try at least once.