Paris (AFP)
After its lost Champions League final, Paris SG is sent back to its sites: 2020-2021 must be the year of European confirmation, but until the top, it still has some way to go, the reconstruction of a collective to the extensions of Neymar and Mbappé.
PSG only had time to dry their tears. Ligue 1 has resumed, the new season is already here with a first match against Lens (rescheduled for September 10), and this prevents him from ruminating on the images of the cruel defeat against Bayern Munich in Lisbon (1-0).
The players had barely left the lawn of the Estadio da Luz, when their president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi gave them the next roadmap, at the microphone of RMC Sport: "We will work next season to win the Champions League because that's our goal. We believe in it more than before. "
The Qatari owners of PSG waited nine years before putting their finger on their dream of lifting the Cup with the big ears. The leader's statements suggest that they would like to wait less until their second final.
Today, PSG is no longer hiding. The curse feared by the supporters, traumatized by the memory of the "remountada" suffered in Barcelona in 2017 (4-0, 1-6), has been replaced by the certainty that the club has the means to do great things, born of a crazy summer which also saw him succeed in the national Grand Slam.
"Today we just want to get up and start trying again ... and let no one doubt that we will be successful," Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes wrote.
- "Rage" -
"Let this rage stay somewhere in our stomachs to get back into action, come back and win," added defender Presnel Kimpembe.
More than ever, the Parisians are betting on the Champions League, they who wait as much for October 1, date of the draw for the C1 hens, as their resumption in the Championship in September.
But the "Final 8" demonstrated that the state of mind, praised in recent weeks, was not enough, crowning Bayern, model of experience and consistency through the decades.
It is up to the Parisian novice to prove that he can repeat the same European performances every year. "This is the beginning, not a summit," warned Thomas Tuchel, on the cusp of crucial weeks for his workforce, until the end of the transfer window on October 5.
"When I see Bayern investing and keeping their players ... if we want to continue playing at this level, we have to use the transfer market now, expand the squad. Next season will be very demanding, we have to build a squad very, very strong ", assured the technician on the British channel BT Sport.
The departures of Edinson Cavani, Thiago Silva, Thomas Meunier or Tanguy Kouassi force PSG to maneuver, quickly and well. The first two leave a void on and off the pitch, where they were two emblems of the club.
Sporting director Leonardo is said to be looking for one player per row. The quest for a right side and a middle would be set up as a priority, according to the specialized press.
- Neymar-Mbappé, a show to be extended -
At the same time, the leader must consolidate his bases, especially the Neymar-Mbappé duo which has established itself as the driving force behind the Parisian dragster.
The Brazilian superstar has just completed his most complete season, without injuries and with an irreproachable state of mind: "I think that today I am having my best moment in Paris", savored "Ney" before Portugal.
However, the contracts of the two players, accomplices as never before this season, end in 2022. This leaves PSG a few months to negotiate possible extensions.
If negotiations fail, one of the two attackers, or even both, could leave in 2021, which would switch PSG to another era, necessarily less flashy ... unless the fantasy Lionel Messi, on the departure of Barcelona, does not materialize?
What if PSG's best chance of winning the C1 was next season? For Paris, there is not a second to lose.
© 2020 AFP