A scary statistic. Paris Saint-Germain have never qualified in a European Cup knockout round after losing the first leg at home. A bad omen after his defeat at the Parc des Princes against Barcelona, this Wednesday evening in the quarter-final of the Champions League (2-3).
Such a scenario has happened six times in the history of the French club. The first time was during the 1984-85 season, in the round of 16 of the UEFA Cup. PSG was then eliminated by Hungarian club Videoton after an opening 2-4 defeat at the Parc des Princes. This statistic continued against Juventus in 1990, against AC Milan in 1995, already Barcelona in 2015, Manchester City in 2021 and finally Bayern last year. PSG had in fact lost 1-0 in its round of 16 first leg against the German giant at the Parc des Princes, before being eliminated on the return leg at the Allianz Arena.
Paris Saint-Germain have NEVER passed a european knock-out after losing the 1st leg at home. They tried it 6 times and they failed in ALL OF THEM. #UCL
— MisterChip (English) (@MisterChiping) April 10, 2024
More recently, in its “QSI” past, counting defeats in the first leg at home and away, Paris Saint-Germain has only managed to reverse the situation once. It was in 2020, against Borussia Dortmund, in the round of 16 of the Champions League. The French lost 2-1 in Germany, before winning 2-0 at the Parc des Princes.
The fact remains that this statistic has a flaw: the away goal rule, in force for a long time but now abolished, greatly advantaged the team which won the first away match.
For FC Barcelona, Wednesday evening was more successful. The Catalan club had not scored three away goals in a knockout match since 2015. It was already at the Parc des Princes, against PSG. Luis Enrique was the Barcelona coach at the time. Another stat which has cause for great concern among PSG supporters, it is not Barça’s habit to let an away victory slip away during a European Cup confrontation.
This has only happened twice (!) in the entire history of the Spanish champion, out of 42 examples. And that goes back to… 1980 against Cologne, then 1984 against Metz in a match that remains famous for the Lorraine club. 40 years later, PSG really has what it takes to make history.
