2023-12-18 14:47:27
The capital club is doing well after the draw for the round of 16 of the premier competition of European football, with a double clash against the Spaniards of San Sebastian. Enough to avoid another crash?
If it turns into a formality for the bulk of the battalion of these greats of this world, the six or seven clubs (Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, the English clubs whatever they are…) aiming for the final victory in the Champions League, the draw for the round of 16 is always an event seen from the Parisian camp: since the arrival of Kylian Mbappé and Neymar at the club during the summer of 2017, the capital club has been eliminated at this stage four times out of six, the 2020 covid final (0-1 against Bayern) and the 2020-2021 season (1-2, 0-2 against Manchester City) being exceptions. There is therefore every reason to welcome the draw made on Monday in Nyon (Switzerland): it is Real Sociedad de San Sebastian, by far the least experienced opponent that Paris-SG could face at this stage, which was offered to Kylian Mbappé and others.
Not that we should take the Spanish team lightly: unlike Paris-SG, second in its group (which forces it to receive first in eighth), the team led by the Breton-turned-Spanish defender Robin Le Normand has dominated his own and there were heavy things, an Inter Milan unfortunate finalist last June as well as two Champions League winners, Benfica Lisbon and RB Salzburg.
The genius to get into trouble
But the Parisians have one particularity so far: they have only been eliminated in the premier competition by big names, Real Madrid (twice), Bayern Munich (also twice) or Manchester City (twice again). A matter of experience and more certainly of means, the Parisians having historically struggled against numbers of their objective level. Afterwards, it’s the terrain that will speak. If the Parisian coach, Luis Enrique, never stops promising a bright future, we do not see much coming for the moment, a certain offensive impotence superimposed on a growing unease around Mbappé, who does not no longer shows his frustration on the pitch even if he remains effective (18 goals this season).
Scheduled for the end of February and the beginning of March, the two meetings against Real Sociedad (distant semi-finalist of the C1 in 1983, when each country only sent its domestic champion to the ancestor of the Champions League) should coincide with the resumption of the eternal soap opera of the star’s contract extension, his lease expiring in June. It is also a period where the club has often had bad luck in terms of injuries, the physical wear and tear of the first six months of the season having undoubtedly also been poorly managed in the past.
In short: if it is in principle the pot of earth against the pot of iron with regard to the disparity of means (around a hundred million euros for Real Sociedad, multiplier between eight and ten for Paris-SG), the Parisians have always had the genius to put themselves in difficulty and make themselves vulnerable in the heart of winter. And all French football would be coughing: once again, Paris-SG is the only French representative in the Champions League at this stage of the competition.
The duels in detail:
– Match 1: FC Porto (Portugal) against Arsenal FC (England)
– Match 2: SSC Napoli (Italy) vs FC Barcelona (Spain)
– Confrontation 3: Paris Saint-Germain (France) against Real Sociedad de Futbol (Spain)
– Match 4: FC Internazionale de Milan (Italy) vs Atlético de Madrid (Spain)
– Match 5: PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) against Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
– Confrontation 6: SS Lazio (Italy) against Bayern Munich (Germany)
– Confrontation 7: FC Copenhagen (Denmark) against Manchester City (England)
– Match 8: RB Leipzig (Germany) against Real Madrid (Spain)
Updated December 18 at 1:45 p.m. with analysis by Grégory Schneider
#PSG #face #Real #Sociedad #Libération