- The draw for the Final 8 of the Champions League took place this Friday afternoon.
- PSG, unlike OL, is doing well, with Atalanta in the quarterfinals, then potentially Leipzig or Atlético Madrid in the semi-finals.
- What hope to reach its first final of C1, even if all this obviously remains only hypothetical.
Two rooms, two atmospheres for the French clubs concerned by the draw for the final phase of the Champions League, this Friday noon. While the Lyonnais saw piling up on their route the biggest names in Europe with their palmares bigger than the Alps, the Parisians had to ask themselves why Paulo Sousa, the Bordeaux coach to whom they nevertheless stuck two beautiful defeats this season, had been so considerate with them. Atalanta in quarter, Leipzig or Atlético in half… It looks like a beautiful highway towards the final.
#TirageLdC #UCLdraw And here are the quarter posters 🙌🤩
▪ Unique matches in Lisbon from August 12 to 15 🇵🇹
▪ Two teams where the 8th return will be played on August 7-8💥 pic.twitter.com/OD3OEyASkN
Yes, we know, "in football nothing is played in advance", "anything can happen", all that. Obviously. The reality on the ground is often rougher than what is written on paper. We'll come back to it, by the way. But it would be hypocritical to say that PSG does not have a favorable draw there to hope to play the first final of C1 in its history, in any case more than if it was in the other part of the table, with all the Usual “chairmen of the board” in final stages of LDC, like Bayern and company. To put it simply, Paris has never been in such a position of strength to achieve this, in any case. In previous years, Barça, Real, Manchester City or Chelsea were there to cut its legs. But this time there will be no ogre on the way
Finally ... there is Atlético Madrid. A team with a monster experience, guided by the brilliant Diego Simeone. Never spectacular, always formidable, the Madrilenians, finalists of the competition in 2014 and 2016 and winners of the Europa League in 2018, have the reputation of being an impossible team to play. Just ask the Liverpool players, outgoing winners but eliminated in eighths by Atletico, what they think. Finally, we will already see if the second club in Madrid pass the pitfall Leipzig, the team that goes up to Germany and Europe, fresh third in the Bundesliga and who gave a lesson to Tottenham by José Mourinho in the round of 16 (1 -0 in London, 3-0 in Germany).
Atalanta, a fire attack
To return to PSG, it will therefore be necessary to put up with Atalanta at the start of this Final 8. The Parisian club and its supporters can be sure of at least one thing: they will not be bored. The Italians are capable of all this season, to pass seven (!) Goals in Torino, Lecce and Udinese, five in AC Milan and in Parma, as to take four by Dinamo Zagreb. Qualified in C1 for the first time in their history, they returned from nowhere in the group stage, started by three defeats and a draw, before winning the last two games to pass ric rac. No details, however, in the 8th final, where they scored twice four goals at FC Valence.
You will understand, the team of Gian Piero Gasperini knows how to make the show. "Atalanta is an attacking, attacking, goal scoring and attacking team," said Thomas Tuchel on Friday. Well seen. It has dazzled Italy for two years now, carried by the giant Ilicic (20 goals) and the rocket Muriel (18 years), who are currently making the best season of their career. And by far. We will not forget either Captain Pepu Gomez, playmaker capable of blows of genius and true soul of this team, which he joined in 2014.
If all this allows Atalanta to post the best attack in Serie A (85 goals in 31 games, an average of 2.7 per game, all the same), the doors are often wide open on the other side ground. In the Champions League, the Bergamasques had exploded in Zagreb, therefore, and on the lawn of Manchester City (5-1).
The President of Paris Saint-Germain Nasser Al-Khelaïfi reacted after the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the @ChampionsLeague 🎙️
"We will have a very interesting confrontation with this team from the @ Atalanta_BC." pic.twitter.com/3fj11TiIXw
“We will have a very interesting confrontation with this Atalanta Bergamo team. It is an adversary that we will respect, as we always do, and who confirms this year his presence among the best Italian teams of the moment, "commented President Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, still on the club website on Friday. He is right. The Atalanta is typically the kind of team that can go crazy for 90 minutes. But the Parisian offensive arrows should have some fun.
In reality, a lot will depend on how quickly the Parisian players manage to regain the rhythm of the competition. Between the Italians, the Germans and the Spanish, they will be the only ones not to have finished their championship. Fortunately, the French Cup and League finals in late July will help. "We are going to prepare. There are still a lot of weeks, notes Tuchel. It's good that we know, it starts now. There is excitement. And hope, probably a little more than getting up this morning.
Sport
PSG: A friendly match in Le Havre on July 12 in front of 5,000 people
Sport
PSG: "As soon as I arrived, my decision to stay was final", assures Mauro Icardi
- PSG
- Atletico madrid
- Champions League
- Soccer
- Sport