You certainly have to make up your mind. Next spring, PSG will most likely have to go through the round of 16 of the Champions League to continue their path in the competition. Unlike last season, it will probably not qualify directly for the quarter-finals, knowing that only the first two in its group (A), dominated by the Germans from Kiel, the Danes from Aalborg and the Poles from Kielce , will be. Their record of four defeats and a draw in nine games seems too bad to achieve this objective.
There are now five matches to play in this group phase, so ten points to take, and Paris (6th with one match in hand) is six behind Kiel, leader, and three behind the Polish-Danish duo. To still have a very small chance of direct qualification, he would have to achieve a flawless performance and the other three would have to have a series of poor performances. It seems unlikely. PSG also has an interest in looking behind its back. To avoid direct elimination, we must not finish in the last two of the group, Raul Gonzalez’s squad, so dominant in the championship, having only one point ahead of the red zone.
Playing the round of 16, which will take place as a two-legged match at the end of March and beginning of April, would not in itself be a disaster. Tense, indecisive meetings will just be added to an already insane schedule. These 8th will concern the teams classified between third and sixth place in each of the two groups. The third ranked team of one will play against the sixth of the other, the fourth against the fifth and so on. PSG’s mission now is to finish in the best possible place to avoid a big loss. As it stands, if we refer to the rankings of December 6 before this 10th day, Paris could face Montpellier or Magdebourg, the reigning European champion.
For the last day of the Champions League before the international break and its return on February 14, the Parisian club travels to Denmark (6:45 p.m., Eurosport 2), to Aalborg and will reunite with its former star Mikkel Hansen. The task promises to be complicated. Paris won the first leg on October 18 (33-30). Since then, he has remained on a series of four matches without a victory in the tournament: three defeats and one draw. It’s time to put an end to it to restart the machine and not be afraid.
