Europe 1 with AFP 8:28 p.m., February 13, 2023

Stuck in a spiral of poor results, PSG has everything to fear from the arrival of Bayern Munich on Tuesday in the knockout stages of the Champions League (9:00 p.m.) but the return of Kylian Mbappé gives hope to a beleaguered group.

But should we take all the risks to make him play at all costs?

The severe defeat conceded to Monaco on Saturday (3-1) in Ligue 1 plunged Paris Saint-Germain into crisis and it is with low morale and uncertainties that it launches an assault on the six-time champions of 'Europe.

Since the resumption of competitions after the 2022 World Cup, Paris has lost four times, despite remaining undefeated during the first part of the season, and coach Christophe Galtier is extremely weakened when it comes to challenging the Bavarians , despite a leading position in the league.

PSG is therefore in great danger and the "Rekordmeister", suddenly revived after a sluggish start to the year and a cascade of injuries (Manuel Neuer, Sadio Mané, Lucas Hernandez, Noussair Mazraoui), has everything to sink it and ruin its season for good.

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Mbappé, anti-crisis remedy

The whole challenge for Galtier will be to quickly find the right words and solutions to reboost a team that is mentally weak and which also seems to stick its tongue out physically.

The Parisian coach, who has appeared in recent weeks unable to revive his troops, plays very big in a test set up as the absolute objective of the Qatari owners of PSG.

The former Lille coach will discover for the first time in his career the burning atmosphere of knockout matches in the Champions League and he has no interest in missing his copy.

In this ocean of doubts and concerns, PSG, at their worst after their setback in Monaco, still saw a little ray of sunshine on Sunday with the return to training of Kylian Mbappé.

Injured on February 1 and announced unavailable for three weeks due to a thigh injury, the top scorer of the World Cup (8 goals) is back on his feet faster than expected and will be on the match sheet, failing that. to start.

With the express recovery of Mbappé, Paris has its best anti-crisis remedy, likely to change the situation at least on the psychological level, even if Julian Nagelsmann, the coach of Bayern, expected it and had affirmed from February 3 not believe in his absence, even evoking a stroke of "poker".

"I am preparing for the match as if he was going to play," he explained.

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Messi and Verratti expected

In addition to Mbappé, PSG will also recover two other elements which can modify the balance of power, currently clearly in favor of Bayern, which remains on two successes in a row in the Bundesliga.

Lionel Messi and Marco Verratti, out of Monaco due to injuries, will be there at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday and Presnel Kimpembe, who has also finished with his Achilles tendon problems, could come to solidify a defense far from being sovereign at this time.

With these three executives and Mbappé at least on the bench at kick-off, Paris will have a completely different look than on the Rock and will be in possession of all its key pieces to try to get rid of its executioner in the final of the League of champions 2020 (1-0).

Hoping for him that Neymar, currently in great difficulty, can quickly regain his magic.

On the Bavarian side, Nagelsmann is betting heavily on attack on Kingsley Coman and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, whom the Parisians know well.

The first, trained at PSG but a Munich hero during the 2020 duel, is perceived by Nagelsmann as an "extremely important" element and the Cameroonian still remains useful, while waiting to find Mané, 2nd in the 2022 Ballon d'Or behind Karim Benzema and expected in the return match (March 8).

Both are capable of playing a very bad trick on the Parisians, for whom a loss at home would constitute a new cataclysm.