After Juve, should we expect a burnt Atalanta against PSG?

From our special correspondent in Lisbon,

It is still too early to cry out for a miracle, but Kylian Mbappé was seen again with a soccer ball at the start of the week as Paris Saint-Germain prepare to face Atalanta in the opening of the Final 8 in Lisbon. Thomas Tuchel will have to wait a while before recovering from his sprained ankle with fracture of the fifth metatarsal. As for Verratti, we risk not seeing him from the competition. But let the sore losers refrain from brandishing injuries as an excuse for premature elimination. The “Dea” also has two notable absentees. The goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini and the goalscorer Josip Ilicic. Draw in the infirmary, it remains to be seen who has more in the engine: the team that has two finals in the legs or the one that has stuffed 13 games between June 21 and August 1?

Kylian Mbappe begins collective training with the rest of the Parisian group. A new step in the re-education of the French #PSG pic.twitter.com/tBndBbWH8a

Asked in the team on the state of form of his players, the coach Gian Piero Gasperini does not hide. “It's true, we are tired. Not an admission of weakness. Because the unknown of the equation lies in the fact of knowing whether it is better to have the legs a little heavy but with the rhythm or the stems light but a little rusty. “The physical consequences are quite similar in both cases,” says physical trainer Xavier Frezza. Note that the risk of injury is increased. "" The truth, continues Gasperini, we will see it on the ground. So far, I don't know her. We can say anything and its opposite, both theories are valid. The round of 16 return between Juventus and OL still placed the cursor on the French side. The Old Lady won at the cost of a space potato from Cristiano Ronaldo, but rarely seemed able to print a pace worthy of a great C1 game. From there to saying that Bergamo will arrive burnt to Luz on Wednesday evening, there is a ditch that we dare not cross. For several reasons.

Indicators are better for Atalanta

The end of the season for Juve has been a long descent into hell. Over the last 8 days, the Italian champion loses four times, concedes two draws and wins two matches. Some saw it as a slowdown to better bounce back in the Champions League. The truth is that the seers indicated the sinking of a team. A trend that we do not find in the future opponent of PSG. Admittedly, its climax - the fireworks display against Brescia on July 14 - is behind and the last game against Inter is worrying, but the picture looks less dramatic with four wins, three draws and one loss in the last eight meetings.

More rest than Juve

The decision to go to the end of the round of 16 Atalanta-Valence in February was dramatic from a health point of view (hello the cluster). Today, she offers a few additional days of rest to the Dea, which one can easily imagine that she would have gone well without this advantage which again distinguishes her from Juve. For Xavier Frezza, this is far from being a detail. “Four or five more days of recovery is really not bad. Their objective was to ensure their qualification in C1. They did it two, three games before the end of Serie A. So I imagine that in addition they were able to relax a bit, load the sessions a little less physically and psychologically. This allows 10-15 days to prepare the lens and regain a little freshness. "The Bergamasque technician is also counting on the transcendental aspect of the event:" Faced with Paris, the motivation will be such that we will be able to exceed everything else. "

PSG are less advanced than OL in their preparation

First sovereign in friendly, Paris exudes less serenity after two hung finals and a last anecdotal preparation match against Sochaux. Thomas Tuchel's men are suffering from a lack of rhythm that the Lyonnais may have been better able to fill by resuming training in early June (they could afford it), thus allowing them to resist Juventus. “PSG arrives without a real reference, believes the physical trainer. On the other hand, we know that the Champions League is the big deadline that the club has set for itself and therefore they had to prepare things well to get in shape. But the question of rhythm is important, because it also raises those of technical and tactical automatisms. Atalanta will have more benchmarks on the field, PSG less fatigue and more experience. "

We can also remember, through the example of Inter in the Europa League, that we can be an Italian club and have fishing in August. The truth of Juve is not necessarily that of Atalanta.

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