As the revamped Champions League format enters its sophomore year, defending champions Paris Saint Germain are about to find out that while it’s hard to win the title in the first place, it’s even harder to retain it. With Real Madrid the only team to have done so in the Champions League era, PSG will look to join them in that elite list. But it’s easier said than done.
The unpredictable UCL format is the first challenge that PSG have to navigate through to reach the promised land. They have surely not forgotten last year’s competition when they were almost close to being eliminated in the group stage itself but hung on to finish 15th which required them to take part in a knockout phase play-off fixture to qualify for the Round of 16. In that match, they absolutely demolished Brest 10-0 on aggregate to do it.
They then faced off against Liverpool who had finished as the No.1 team in the group stages and edged past them 2-0 on aggregate in the Round of 16, highlighting how little finishing on top of the league stages mattered in the competition.
After the Liverpool win, there was no looking back for Luis Enrique’s side as they marched on to win their elusive first title, leaving teams like Aston Villa, Arsenal and Inter Milan, who they crushed 5-0 in the final, in their wake.
So, this time around, the French champions will be wary. The pitfalls of the new format are well documented with every match counting in the long run. PSG start with a match against Atalanta at Home on Wednesday night, followed by clashes with Barcelona (A), Bayer Leverkusen (A), Bayern Munich (H), Tottenham (H), Athletic Bilbao (A), Sporting CP (A) and Newcastle United (H). None of these fixtures are a cakewalk with all the matches requiring PSG to be on their toes all the time.
The Donnarumma saga
A positive thing about PSG coming into the new season is that they have managed to keep hold of most of the players who helped them win the Champions League earlier this year. But there’s just one glaring exception: Italian shot stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The lanky goalkeeper was one of the main architects of last year’s UCL triumph having pulled off timely saves to keep his team in tight matches. But over the summer, the relationship soured. According to reports, the keeper earning €850,000 a month, wanted a pay raise and even refused to accept the new salary structure at the club which left no other choice for PSG but to end the relationship.
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The Italian wasn’t at all happy about the decision and with the arrival of new keeper Lucas Chevalier from Lille coupled with getting axed from PSG’s UEFA Super Cup squad vs Tottenham, he did what many modern footballers do nowadays to vent their frustration. Put up a statement on Instagram. “Unfortunately someone has decided that I can no longer be part of the group and contribute to the team’s success. I am disappointed and disheartened,” he wrote. A relationship which had looked to be unbreakable after the highs of the UCL final, was now broken beyond repair.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was one of the main architects of last year’s UCL triumph having pulled off timely saves to keep his team in tight matches. (Photo: Reuters)
Donnarumma eventually left the club in September on the last day of the transfer window and joined Manchester City where he recently showed his mettle by keeping a clean sheet against Manchester United in a derby.
PSG, however, looked to have moved on from him, starting the French domestic season like always, with 3 wins out of 3. The shock 4-0 loss against Chelsea in the Club World Cup a couple of months ago now seems like a fever dream. But the ramifications of playing a long season last time out, looked to have spilled over in the new one.
The defending champions, who returned to pre-season training 7 days before their first match of the season, will start their Champions League campaign without the services of Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue, both of whom suffered injuries during international duty for France. There are also injury clouds hanging over Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Lucas Beraldo which might pose a problem against Atalanta but with the likes of Nuno Mendes, captain Marquinhos, Bradley Barcola, Goncalo Ramos, Achraf Hakimi and new signing Illia Zabarnyi in their ranks, Enrique might still be able to work his magic.
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But the road ahead will not be easy for the defending champs with the season expected to get trickier as it progresses. With their European rivals strengthening their squads exponentially with Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool having splashed the cash to bring in big name signings, Real Madrid and Barcelona looking ominous at the start of the new season, PSG will find out first hand that heavy is the head that wears the crown.
