Last week saw PSG progress to the last eight of the Champions League after a 1-1 draw with Barcelona sealed a 5-2 aggregate win. It was the club’s first Champions League tie under new Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino, and the sixth time they have reached the last eight since 2012.
Since the club was taken over by Qatar Sports Investments, PSG have dominated domestically, winning eight of the last nine Ligue 1 titles. But to date, European glory has eluded them, though last season they reached the Champions League for the first time where they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich, the destination of former PSG forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
This season they will be looking to go one better under Pochettino, but can they do it? Tipsters at pokies casino think they can.
However, as much as Pochettino’s men will be buoyed by the way they swept aside Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona side, there are still some very good sides left in the competition.
Just as PSG are looking to secure their first Champions League title, Pep Guardiola is looking to deliver a first for Manchester City, and right now, not many would bet against City achieving this despite their lack of Champions League pedigree.
Former PSG Head Coach Thomas Tuchel – who led PSG to last season’s final – replaced Frank Lampard at Chelsea shortly after his departure from the Parc des Princes. And just as Pochettino has led PSG into the last eight, Tuchel has done the same at Stamford Bridge. And Chelsea have been in excellent form since Tuchel’s arrival, remaining unbeaten, and so they will be quietly confident of making further Champions League progress.
Real Madrid have won the Champions League three times under Zinedine Zidane, and despite their inconsistent form at times this season, they too have reached the last eight of this season’s competition, and confidently and comfortably dispatched of Atalanta in the last round. Given their undoubted pedigree, they will also be confident of progressing further.
Reigning champions Bayern Munich comfortably swept aside Lazio in the last round, and have progressed this far without really breaking sweat. With the peerless Robert Lewandowski among the goals as usual, Bayern will probably be most people’s favourites.
And though Liverpool, Porto and Borussia Dortmund are perhaps the least fancied sides of those left in it, no one would want to write any of them off.
Although the last eight looks tough, PSG’s form has generally been good since Pochettino took over from Tunchel, and he will be looking to draw on his experience in taking his former club Tottenham Hotspur to the final back in 2019.