Champions League semi-finalist preview: PSG defying doubters to make final four
Even with such an affordable run-in to the Champions League final on paper, Paris Saint-Germain have done their very best to live up to low expectation in Europe's elite competition this season. Nevertheless, they are one of just four teams left and just one match away from the final.
After a run of three straight eliminations at the round of 16 stage, PSG will face Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig on Tuesday night in their first Champions League semi-final since 1994-95. Having spent more than a billion dollars on players since the Qatari takeover nine years ago, this has been a long time coming. So how exactly have they got to this moment this season? It's time to take a trip down memory lane in what has been a very long 2019/20 campaign.
Chucked in with Real Madrid in Group A, it was widely expected Paris Saint-Germain would have to settle with a second place finish. That, however, isn't what happened. PSG set the tone for their group stage campaign from the outset with a remarkable 3-0 win at home to Madrid, with former Galactico Angel Di Maria netting a brace.
PSG ended up sailing through Group A, winning home and away to Club Bruge and Galatasaray and only dropping points in Madrid, though they admirably fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with two goals in the final 10 minutes. PSG are used to blowing leads in Europe, not fighting back. A sign of things to come, perhaps?
Thomas Tuchel's side ended up finishing first in Group A and five points clear of Madrid. They finished the group stage with the third best attack (17 goals scored) and the best defensive record (two goals conceded) in the competition. All the more impressive when you consider Neymar only started one group game and Kylian Mbappe only started three.
Knockout stage
Finishing top in your Champions League group should, in theory, hand you a kind opening knockout game. While they avoided Manchester City, Thomas Tuchel would likely have hoped for a kinder fixture than his former employers, Borussia Dortmund. The Bundesliga outfit were flying at that point, scoring five goals in three straight matches in the build up to their round of 16 first leg. Some even tipped Dortmund for a deep run in the competition following the January arrival of Erling Haaland. And it was Haaland who gave Dortmund first-leg advantage, scoring both goals in a 2-1 win.
The return leg was one of the last matches in Europe before the coronavirus pandemic forced the continent into lockdown. Neymar's away goal in Germany gave PSG a good chance of going through but Tuchel was without the suspended Marco Verratti and could only name Kylian Mbappe on the bench. As PSG have wilted at this stage of the competition so often, few thought the French side could keep a clean sheet against Dortmund's breathtaking attack. But that is exactly what they did. Neymar and Juan Bernat put PSG 2-0 ahead after 46 minutes before Emre Can was sent off for Dortmund late on.
PSG would have to wait more than five months before their next Champions League match in which time they only played one other competitive match. If PSG thought Dortmund were free-scoring then Atalanta were on a tier above, having remarkably finished the 2019/20 Serie A campaign with 98 goals scored. Now refined to just one-leg knockout matches, many thought this played into Atalanta's hands, especially when they took the lead against PSG after 26 minutes. PSG really flattered to deceive until Mbappe, again only fit enough for the bench, was introduced with 30 minutes to go. Even still, few clear-cut chances were created until a crazy final three minutes saw PSG net twice through Marquinhos and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to stun Atalanta and advance to the last four.
Team Changes
Thomas Tuchel has been forced to contend with a lot at PSG this season, particularly concerning the fitness of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. The star duo have only started four games each from a possible nine in the Champions League this season. They have shared the pitch for just 281 minutes of a possible 810 but crucially both are now available for the business stage of the competition. With Angel Di Maria returning from suspension for Tuesday's semi-final, Tuchel can finally name his best attacking trio.
It hasn't just been the absence of Mbappe and Neymar that has troubled Tuchel. Neither Thomas Meuiner nor Edinson Cavani stayed to help PSG finish their European campaign, instead deciding to leave once their contracts expired in July. Verratti has been suspended and is now expected to miss the final, if PSG make it, through injury, as will first-choice goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
Top Performers
1. Neymar (8.48 rating) - The Brazilian has played a direct hand in six goals in four appearances in the Champions League and no player (2+ appearances) averages more dribbles per 90 than the PSG No.10 (7.8) in the competition.
2. Angel Di Maria (7.62) - The 32-year-old has scored or assisted six goals in seven appearances in the Champions League and has created the most clear-cut goalscoring chances in the competition this season (8)
3. Kylian Mbappe (7.52) - The 2018 World Cup winner has remarkably played a direct hand in 10 goals despite starting in just half of his eight appearances. Mbappe averages a goal or an assist every 47.7 minutes of playing time in the Champions League this term.
