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Without the seeded status, PSG, the only French club still in the running, feared the worst for this draw for the knockout stages of the Champions League on Monday, November 7. Paris will face Bayern Munich of Senegalese Sadio Mané and Cameroonian Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, a former Parisian. A very big piece in perspective.
For the second year in a row, PSG approached this draw in hat number 2, after finishing second in the group in a rather crazy scenario, surpassed by Benfica in the number of away goals scored. The 7th deciding criterion provided for by the C1 regulations. “ Anyway, if we want to go far, we will have to beat big teams “, had nuanced the Parisian coach Christophe Galtier after the victory in Turin.
Bayern, a bad memory
Last season, Paris was eliminated in the round of 16 against Real Madrid. After the victory of the first leg at the Parc des Princes (1-0), Paris, then coached by Mauricio Pochettino, had sunk in a few minutes during the return meeting, folding in front of a masterpiece by Benzema (3-1) . At the time, Paris had already finished second in their group, behind Manchester City.
This season, the objective of the club and its Qatari owners remains the same: to win the most prestigious European competition, so that an exit from the start of the final phase would be another major failure, and would perhaps push Mbappé to want to leave for good, a year after its extension.
The capital club had lost in the final in 2020 against Bayern Munich and in the semi-final against Manchester City in 2021. Paris Saint-Germain have reached the last four each time they have finished first in their group in the phase of groups. Paris will receive in the first leg before having to travel to Germany for the return in March. The round of 16 of C1 are scheduled from February 14 to 22 for the first legs, and from March 7 to 15 for the return legs.
The posters:
Leipzig-Manchester City
Bruges-Benfica
Liverpool-Real Madrid
AC Milan-Tottenham
Frankfurt-Naples
Dortmund-Chelsea
Inter Milan-Porto
Paris Saint-Germain-Bayern Munich