Since the arrival of Qatar Sports Investments in 2011, PSG has always made it past the group stage of the Champions League: a historic run for the club, a streak that was a backpack on Wednesday. The French team maintained the brilliance of 12 consecutive seasons in the round of 1, but did so on their nerves, suffering until the end, dressed as a tightrope walker. With their 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund they could have missed out on Europe's top competition at any time and, in fact, for almost an hour they were eliminated. The mathematics for PSG's qualification demanded a French win or a stumble for Newcastle against Milan and there were many minutes in which neither of the two conditions met. The Italian comeback (2-<>) in the other match was a relief, but oops! alas! Ugh!

Joelington's goal for Newcastle (1-0) in the 33rd minute eliminated a PSG that did not stop failing and failing and missing goals. Against Dortmund, a team that had not conceded at home in two years, Mbappé, Kang-in Lee, Kolo Muani and Hakimi had very clear chances to score in the first half and were forgiving. It was the weight of the Qatari property's run in the Champions League. At half-time, Luis Enrique's new project was sinking with everything and there were no excuses, neither his recent arrival, nor the departures of Neymar and Messi, nor even the bad luck of falling into the group of death, that saved the Spanish coach. In the 53rd minute of the match, a mistake by Hakimi allowed Dortmund's goal by Adeyimi, and made things even more complicated, but PSG's reaction was quick. First, the very young Warren Zaïre-Emery, 17, tied the match and shortly after, in the 59th minute, Milan began the comeback that gave the ticket to the round of <> to the French team.

The formation of the drums

In the rest of the groups there was not so much tension, far from it. With a 5-2 win over Shakhtar, Porto soon decided their place in second place and Barcelona, despite their poor game in Antwerp, crossed the phase as leaders. The rest of the groups of the day were already resolved with Atlético and Manchester City as first and Lazio and Leipzig as second and with those names the pots of the next draw were closed.

Next Monday from 12:00 at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon it will be decided which opponents play against the four Spanish qualifiers, all as leaders, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Atlético and Barcelona. Contrary to what happens in subsequent draws, in the round of <> you cannot find the teams that have already coincided in the group stage or the teams from the same country. That is why the Spaniards have PSG as an opponent to avoid and there are few really desirable options. For those who have not already faced them, the three Italian teams (Napoli, Inter and Lazio) are fearsome and, if anything, Copenhagen or PSV can be considered the least dangerous.

The qualifiers for the round of 16

First: Bayern, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Atletico, Sociedad, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona.

Runners-up: Copenhagen, PSV, Napoli, Inter, Lazio, PSG, Leipzig and Porto.

To the Europa League: Galatarasay, Lens, Braga, Benfica, Feyenoord, Milan, Young Boys and Shakthar.

  • Real Madrid
  • FC Barcelona
  • Atletico Madrid