Bad news for Paris-Saint-Germain. UEFA will set up a new format of the Champions League to coax – again – the big clubs, ready to create a European Superleague in which they would evolve in a kind of self. But this reform does not go so far as to give up the spice of the European cups since 1956: the return matches.
In recent years, PSG digests them quite badly. Even with a 95% chance of reaching the semi-finals, with the success acquired in Munich (3-2), on April 7, this recent past and this recent liability cast doubt on the qualification of the Parisians, Tuesday, April 13, at the Parc des Princes.
There is already the content of this first act in Bavaria. The victory does not erase the domination of Bayern Munich – 31 shots, or one attempt every three minutes – which calls for caution. Player of the match trophy in hand, Kylian Mbappé had let go of these two obvious facts at the microphone of RMC Sport: “We are only at half-time for a big confrontation” ; “We suffered, but we suffered as a team. “
Hardly suspected of false modesty, the double scorer of the Allianz Arena knows the background of his team and retaliated his communication. We never know. In 2019, the Bondy prodigy displayed titanium confidence after the 2-0 win at Manchester United in the round of 16 first leg. It was therefore not necessary to speak to him of the specter of the “remountada”, two years earlier, against FC Barcelona (4-0, 1-6).
He was not there yet and he had sent this message to media too quick to revive bad memories, according to him: “We must stop selling fear. “ But, in three weeks, fear had infused minds and PSG had taken the door to the English club after a defeat that looked like scuttling (1-3).
“We found a way to manage all of this”
Going from the paradise of the going to the hell of the return, the club, in its Qatari version, experienced it for the first time in 2014, by squandering against Chelsea (0-2) the advantage acquired at the Parc des Princes ( 3-1). The foundations for the disillusionment to come are laid that day at Stamford Bridge. Bad manager, Laurent Blanc’s team waits, retreats and leaves themselves at the mercy of a stroke of fate, cruel, like this goal in the last minutes of the Senegalese Demba Ba, executioner of his heart club, him, the child of Montrouge (Hauts-de-Seine).
Yes, Paris exploded its glass ceiling of the quarter-finals of the competition with its place of finalist in August 2020, against Bayern Munich, but it was in the context of a “Final 8” in Lisbon with dry matches . Do the slaps of the past immunize against the risk of relapse upon return?
Leonardo wants to believe it. If many retain the image of a feverish and dominated formation at the Parc des Princes against Barcelona (1-1) in the round of 16 second leg, after rolling over the Catalans in the first leg, the sporting director sees this qualification as the end of the Indian sign. “When you win 4-1 away, you have to manage. It is normal that there are complicated moments. We found a way to handle it all. It was a very important step, compared to the ghost. We had to move forward “, pleaded the Brazilian the day after the match on the antenna of RMC Info.
Despite the qualification, the Barcelona precedent of March 10 raises the question of the emotional management of major events by this team. The coach, Mauricio Pochettino, has found the culprit almost perfectly suited to justify this feverishness: a French context “With a lot of pessimism” who wouldn’t help his team.
The Saint-Etienne precedent, in 1969
After the victory against Strasbourg in the league (4-1), Saturday April 10, the Argentinian prepared the spirits for a return placed – like the first leg – under the sign of collective solidarity against a Bayern ready to take all risks to catch up. “We will suffer for ninety minutes, but, at the end of the day, our objective is to qualify”, warns the former defender (2001-2003) of the Parisian club.
To reassure himself a little, he can hang on to the news from Bavaria. His counterpart, Hansi Flick, has seen his injured list grow in recent hours. To the packages already acquired from Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry and Niklas Süle could be added those of Leon Goretzka, Jerôme Boateng, or even Kingsley Coman, hit in the knee against Union Berlin on Saturday (1-1).
To make matters worse, the quarrel between Flick and sports director Hasan Salihamidzic seems final. “I believe that it is no longer repairable, their positions are too far apart”, judged Lothar Matthäus, star consultant of the German media and specialist in this type of conflict when he was the protagonist as a player of a club nicknamed “FC Hollywood” in the 1990s.
But all these adventures do not make us forget that only one French club eliminated Bayern after a return match. The feat, signed by AS Saint-Etienne, dates back to 1969, with a 3-0 victory for Geoffroy-Guichard in the round of 16 of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup.