At the top of their Champions League group before this last match against Juve, PSG nevertheless found themselves second behind Benfica, despite a 2-1 victory in Turin thanks to the achievements of Kylian Mbappé and Nuno Mendes. A confusing scenario, caused by the resounding success of Benfica on the lawn of Maccabi Haifa (1-6). At the end of these group stages, Parisians and Portuguese thus present a completely identical record with the same number of points (14), the same number of goals scored (16) and goals conceded (7). A first in the history of the competition. In addition, the two direct confrontations between the two teams resulted in two draws with the same score.
How to explain then that Benfica came to steal this first place in the face and under the beard of the Parisians? In this case, it is then necessary to look at the number of goals scored away from home. And on this point, the Portuguese are ahead, naturally thanks to their evening card on Israeli soil. Benfica have therefore scored 9 goals from their bases against only 6 for PSG.
“We could consider everything, we also knew about this possibility. First of all, I want to congratulate Benfica, who have scored more away goals than us, but I also want to congratulate my team. We had a good group stage with 14 points, we scored a lot of goals. We often say that this competition is irrational and we experienced it this evening, ”reacted Christophe Galtier at the microphone of Canal +.
This second place therefore deprives Paris of a more lenient draw for the round of 16. Bayern Munich, Manchester City or even Real Madrid could thus stand in the way of the Parisians from the next round. Verdict Monday, November 7.