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Mauricio Pochettino is so far emphatically factual.

Quieter than his predecessor Thomas Tuchel, on the other hand, he has the advantage of having already worn the Paris St. Germain jersey as a player.

Unlike the German, who courageously gave his press conferences in French from day one, the Argentine also prefers to cling to his mother tongue: just don't provoke misunderstandings.

He tends to have the media on his side anyway.

After just a few weeks in office, the sports primer “L'Équipe” published a story with anonymous insider quotes, according to which “the warm-up under Pochettino corresponds to a workout by Tuchel”.

To what extent the 49-year-old ex-defender's greatest wish will be fulfilled remains to be seen.

Pochettino, who followed Tuchel, who was killed because of internal friction, at the turn of the year, likes to talk about setting up a project to develop a club identity.

Recently he has been demanding: "Judge me from next season".

The Argentine Mauricio Pochettino followed Thomas Tuchel at PSG

Source: AFP

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The request is obvious if a coach takes over during the season, was unable to put together his squad or program his season preparation and is then also confronted with the imponderables and infernal accumulations of appointments of the Covid season.

"Things are moving much faster than usual," said the Argentine recently, explaining the enormous fluctuations in his team, who are competing in the Champions League quarter-finals at Bayern Munich today.

"It's difficult for all teams to keep a balance, and especially for a team of coaches who have just arrived."

Bitter bankruptcy in the league

Sure, logical - it's just about the PSG: the most cocky project in world football, the club of Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, which is funded from the extremely wealthy Qatar, the club with an "obsession", as Pochettino himself admits: Finally the Champions League to win.

Where Mbappé has so far completely refused to extend his contract, which will expire in 2022, and where Neymar continues to hesitate to sign a renewal that has allegedly been negotiated for months: things are moving even faster, time is a very relative concept.

Before Bayern take revenge for the lost 2020 final, there are unfamiliar problems in their own front yard.

Normally at this time of year the PSG bagged the French championship with a double-digit point advantage.

Now, after a depressing 1-0 at home in the top game against Lille on Saturday, he is three points behind the northern French, Monaco and Lyon also have title chances.

On the other hand, Pochettino can already claim a prominent scalp in his short term in office.

In the Champions League round of 16, the European arch-rival and previous feared opponent FC Barcelona was eliminated.

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With this, the Parisians demonstrated that the exorcism forced under Tuchel seems to be permanent.

Since the takeover by the Qatari state holding company in 2011, there had initially only been European bankruptcies, which soon assumed historic proportions.

In 2017, the second leg was lost 6-1 against Barcelona after a 4-0 first leg in the first leg.

In 2019 they lost a 2-0 first leg win on the island at home with a 1: 3 against a severely weakened Manchester United.

Focus on Neymar and Mbappé

But at least since a last-minute win against Atalanta Bergamo at the start of the 2020 final tournament with a goal from today's Bayern Munich Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, the Parisians have shown themselves to be mentally stable.

In the preliminary round they fought their way more with will than with brilliance after two defeats in the first three games through a difficult group with Leipzig and Manchester.

Two superstars to judge: Neymar (left) and Kylian Mbappe

Source: dpa / Michael Regan

"I am immaculate", emphasizes Pochettino: "The past is what happened, the aim is always to improve it".

In doing so, of course, he is grappling with the same structural problem that preoccupied Unai Emery and Tuchel: How do you develop the individual strength of Neymar and Mbappé while maintaining balance in the team?

It went best when Neymar was missing from FC Barcelona in the first leg: pushed by Mbappé's epoch-making three-goal show, PSG won 4-1.

But things went worst when Neymar was absent: in the second leg, the only thing that prevented the 1-1 draw was superb saves by goalkeeper Keylor Navas and the Catalans' grotesque waste of opportunities.

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The key figure for style and coherence in the Parisian game is Marco Verratti.

The Italian is statistically the PSG professional with the most ball contacts and usually knows how to do the right thing.

Only its sense of rhythm in midfield allows PSG dominant football beyond occasional ball wins through high pressing or loose flashes of inspiration from its offensive stars.

The problem: Verratti is out due to Corona, and where he cannot be replaced, his neighbor is missing today with the suspended Leandro Paredes.

Verratti failure hurts PSG twice

In games without Verratti, Neymar tends to let himself down and initiate the attacks himself.

But his passing game is not as fast as the Italian's.

In addition, he is missing further ahead.

The PSG loses twice - and Neymar the easier the composure.

Against Lille, in the first start-eleven appearance after the umpteenth injury in his increasingly fleeting career, he played not badly, but still without the last bit of sharpness.

He only showed them in the usual skirmishes with the enemy.

Two yellow cards when the ball was at rest resulted in his fourth expulsion from PSG in as many years.

Neymar fails again against Lille

Source: AFP / FRANCK FIFE

With all the hype about him, Mbappé or Ángel di María, it is easy to overlook the fact that Paris is not nearly as good as Bayern in a number of positions.

In addition to the midfield, this particularly affects the full-backs.

Where the regular players Alessandro Florenzi (Covid) and Layvin Kurzawa (Wade) fail, where the ex-Munich Juan Bernat qua cruciate ligament rupture cannot play any "shit" (Uli Hoeneß dixit) - ex-Schalke Thilo Kehrer could attack his demons meet: in the final in Lisbon he lost the decisive header duel against Kingsley Coman.

The first-time entry into the final will remain as a historic achievement by Tuchel, he was unable to develop a clear style of play.

Now Pochettino is maneuvering through the framework conditions that make it so much more difficult than he himself might think from the outside.

"We are not consistent, I admit that," he says three months after taking office.

In his last match against Bayern, he lost 7-2 with ex-club Tottenham.

Now it is up to him which PSG Munich will get to see today.