Europe 1 with AFP 6:50 p.m., November 3, 2022

The shadows of Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich hang over Paris SG, who could come across one of these leaders again in the draw for the knockout stages of the Champions League on Monday, after losing first place. .

Second place, obtained in the group stage of the Champions League, is a game-changer for PSG.

Forever the first to be overtaken on the sixth criterion to decide between the teams on equal points, PSG feel a little cursed.

And now dreads inheriting one of the last three teams to have blocked his path to glory in the Champions League.

"You have to deal with it, sighs Marquinhos. I've been here a long time, there's always a little thing..."

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Who for PSG?

Monday in Nyon, headquarters of UEFA, if they escape one of the three scarecrows in the draw, the greats of PSG can meet FC Porto or Tottenham, against whom they do not have the same bad memories, or Naples or Chelsea.

"Second, it has disadvantages," admits Marquinhos, "but the other teams will also say to themselves that we will have to play Paris."

And then "the knockout phase is (the) most important", he recalls, "it's the strongest team at the end of the season that wins. We've seen teams finishing second who end up win the Champions League".

The latest is Liverpool, in 2019, who finished in their group at the time behind … PSG.

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Lack of intensity

To console himself, the Parisian captain also felt that first place was not decided on Wednesday evening but "rather in the two matches against Benfica" (1-1/1-1).

"We had to win one, we didn't succeed, above all we had to win the one at home," he explained.

If the scenario is cruel, PSG can blame themselves for not having played all their C1 matches on the floor for 90 minutes, apart from the previous one against Haifa (7-2), a lack of intensity that Christophe Galtier often underlines.

Another weakness, relative: the PSG is still undefeated this season but the team concedes too many goals, at least one in each match of C1 (seven in six matches).

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Concern for Kimpembe

The transition to a four-man defense, with two centrals, for five matches has reassured the executives, Sergio Ramos and Marquinhos, who have both come out in favor of this system.

But the concern around Presnel Kimpembe, hit in the right Achilles tendon, three weeks before the World Cup, adds to the problems of a necessarily unbalanced defense to let the formidable offensive potential of the "MNM" express itself, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

"Presko" did not finally pass the medical examinations scheduled for Thursday morning, said the club, which will give news of the player on Saturday, during the medical bulletin preceding the next match, in Lorient (Sunday 1:00 p.m.).