Would we have cast a spell on Paris Saint-Germain? Already deprived of Angel Di Maria, suspended, the capital club will certainly have to challenge Atalanta Bergamo in the quarter-finals of the Champions League next Wednesday, without Kylian Mbappé, Layvin Kurzawa or Marco Verratti. Enough to bring back, on the eve of the start of “Final 8”, the dark memories of Parisian disillusionment on the European scene.
Bewitched, bewitched or marabouted, Paris Saint-Germain has never been able to play in the final phase of the Champions League with its typical squad since its European return in 2012. And this year is no exception, because, once again, the PSG is decimated. Just a week away from their crucial Champions League quarter-final against Atalanta Bergamo, the capital club have arguably lost one of their masters to play, Marco Verratti. The Italian international environment was the victim of a “severe shock” in training, as PSG indicated in a medical statement released on Wednesday. The club evokes “a significant contusion of the right calf resulting in muscle damage” and plans to give details “in the next 72 hours”. Barring a miracle, the Parisian affected in the calf should therefore be absent from the first shock of this “Final 8”, scheduled for Wednesday 12 August. The Ile-de-France club hopes to recover it for a possible semi-final on August 18 or 19.
Already faced with the injury of Layvin Kurzawa (thigh) and the uncertainty around the physique of Kylian Mbappé (ankle sprain), the Parisian coach must therefore deal with a small workforce. The left side would suffer from a muscle injury to a thigh, a worrying situation which would already record his forfeit. A blow that the Parisians would have deprived themselves of, knowing that Juan Bernat is running out of pace, despite his tenure in a friendly match against Sochaux (1-0).
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The unknown Mbappé
But the big unknown remains the physical situation of Kylian Mbappé. Injured during the victory in the final of the Coupe de France against AS Saint-Étienne (1-0), the French prodigy continues his recovery protocol “as planned”, said the club. He resumed running without a ball on the grounds of the Ooredoo training center. However, constrained by a particularly tight timing and faced with the real risk of relapse, the leaders of Ile-de-France exclude for the moment any tenure against Bergamo.
⚽ #PSGFCSM
Thomas Tuchel: “For Mbappé, I have no idea. He works hard, but it’s short, super short […] We will see on Saturday if he can be on the bench against Atalanta ” pic.twitter.com/FsnMXwBKcP
— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) August 5, 2020
It is therefore a very diminished PSG which will present itself against the Italian club for its entry into the running in the “Final 8”. Thiago Motta in 2013, Zlatan Ibrahimovic the following year, Thiago Silva in 2015, not to mention Marco Verratti and Javier Pastore against Manchester City, Barcelona in 2017, up to Neymar in 2018 and 2019 or Cavani against Manchester United, the list Parisian disillusionment in the Champions League continues to grow. Since its acquisition by Qatari leaders in 2011, Paris Saint-Germain has faced notable absences before tackling each of its major European meetings.
The story repeats itself
It all started during the 2012-2013 season. Eight years after its last participation, PSG signs its comeback in the most prestigious competition of clubs. Qualified for the knockout stages, Paris Saint-Germain eliminates Valence FC (1-1, 1-2) and faces FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals. A match that Thiago Motta will miss, metronome of this Parisian team, undermined by multiple physical glitches. PSG is eliminated from C1 by FC Barcelona, without losing (2-2, 1-1).
The following season, the Parisian club faced Chelsea in the quarter-finals, after easily eliminating Bayer Leverkusen (0-4, 2-1). If the first leg at the Parc des Princes goes perfectly, with a convincing 3-1 success, Zlatan Ibrahimovic nevertheless leaves with injury shortly after the hour mark, hit in the thigh. An injury that will not allow him to play the return match at Stamford Bridge. Edinson Cavani, used to evolving on one side, replaces him off the cuff at the forefront of the attack. Without success. Despite their 3-1 victory in the first leg, the Parisians, now coached by Laurent Blanc, yielded just three minutes from the end of regulation time on a goal from Demba Ba, the eternal replacement (2-0). PSG are eliminated in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row. Terrible disillusionment.
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In 2015, bis repetita. Expelled during the eighth return against Chelsea (2-2), Zlatan Ibrahimovic does not play in the quarter-final first leg at the Parc des Princes against FC Barcelona. Just like Marco Verratti and Serge Aurier, suspended. Or Lucas and Thiago Motta, injured. Worse, Thiago Silva must leave his family prematurely due to injury after 20 minutes of play. Far too limited, PSG dark and the result is final. Barça won the bet 3-1 at the Parc then 2-0 at Camp Nou.
History repeats itself again the following year. This time, it is Manchester City who are in the quarterfinals of the competition. But definitely, nothing is ever easy with Paris Saint-Germain. Deprived of Javier Pastore and Marco Verratti for the first leg, Paris stutters its football (2-2). On his return, still deprived of the Italian environment and subject to the suspensions of David Luiz and Blaise Matuidi, the French technician sets up an improbable 3-5-2 which sounds the death knell for Parisian hopes (1-0).
Facing Barcelona, the humiliation of the century
In 2017, Unai Emery took control of the Parisian club. At the Park, to challenge Barça in the eighth, the Spanish tactician must do without his captain Thiago Silva – spared three days earlier for muscle pain – and Thiago Motta, an essential element of his tactical device. The Brazilian defender gives way to Presnel Kimpembe. Against all expectations, for his first Champions League match, the young Parisian extinguished all Barcelona offensives. His team wins in the party (4-0). No need to recall the return match which will forever mark the complicated history of Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. In a Camp Nou blown up and facing a Barcelona condemned to the feat, Paris undergoes a humiliation in order (6-1) despite the return of its captain, but without Thiago Motta.
The following season, Unai Emery, at the head of an enriched workforce, must compensate for a lack of size. The Spanish coach cannot count on his Brazilian star, Neymar, recruited for 222 million euros in the summer transfer window. One evening of Clasico against OM at the Parc des Princes (3-0), and only nine days before the eighth-final second leg against Real Madrid in the Champions League, Neymar collapses in the Parisian cold and freezes the spans from the Parc des princes. Long minutes on the ground, hands on his face, the Parisian number 10, unable to get up, finally came out on a stretcher. He will leave the lawn in tears and the stadium on crutches. The next day, the verdict falls: the Brazilian is the victim of a crack in the fifth right metatarsal and will not compete for the shock against the defending champion from Madrid. PSG lost 2-1 at the Park after giving in to the Bernabeu (3-1). A defeat that sounds the death knell for the Unai Emery era in the capital.
All hopes on Neymar Jr
Finally, this hecatomb continues in 2019. Neymar Jr, Edinson Cavani and Thomas Meunier are missing. The Auriverde star of PSG is the victim of a relapse, contracted during a match against Strasbourg. Again hit in the fifth right metatarsal, the biggest transfer in football history is sidelined and misses the round of 16 against Manchester United. Injured in the thigh, Edinson Cavani – the club’s top scorer – will also miss the two oppositions, while Thomas Meunier is disabled. If Paris wins in England (2-0), Thomas Tuchel’s men suffer one of the worst disappointments in their European history by losing at home (3-1).
History is repeating itself in 2020 with new major absences. Victims of an infernal spiral, Thomas Tuchel’s players hope that these twists of fate will not thwart their European dreams. All hopes could therefore rest on Neymar Jr, to finally allow Paris Saint-Germain to turn a corner.
