PSG are again promoted from second place. Last year it paid the price, will Real Madrid get it again?

Will history repeat itself? PSG once again failed to make the Champions League group stage and will go through to the eighth round from second place, this time behind Benfica Lisbon. Last year it cost them elimination in the eighth round against Real Madrid, the same opponent is threatening this year.

Last season, PSG faced Manchester City in the Champions League group stage. They failed to make it through that mini-match and advanced to the eighth round from second place. It seemed that for a packed team around Messi, Neymar and Mbappé it should be no problem.

But the opposite was true, as one of the biggest favourites to win the competition was stopped in the first knockout round by Real Madrid. Karim Benzema, to be precise, who downed PSG with a hat-trick in 17 minutes.

This year, the Parisian giant was given a more viable group. The big outsider Maccabi Haifa, the struggling Juventus and Benfica Lisbon. But even so, Messi and co. couldn’t work their way to first place.

They and the Portuguese team had the same points and, thanks to Benfica’s crushing finish in their last game, the same score. More away goals condemned PSG to second place in the table.

Scarecrows of the first basket

And that spells big trouble after last year’s experience. For the Parisians are facing very unpleasant teams from the first place. Perhaps the biggest scarecrow is Real Madrid. The team that last year knocked PSG out of the Champions League in the eighth round.

Moreover, there is a lot of hatred between the two teams, the management of the clubs are split especially because of the (non) transfer of Kylian Mbappé. Playing last year’s eighth-final, when PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi confronted the referee in the bowels of the Santiago Bernabéu, would also add more fuel to the fire.

Further afield, Manchester City, for example, lurks among the seeds. They probably wouldn’t like to see the traditional favourite with a killer in Erling Haaland in Paris. The third giant they will want to avoid in France is Bayern Munich.

The latter came through the group with Barcelona and Inter without losing a point, conceding just two goals. Moreover, they are one of the heavyweights in the Champions League and regularly finish far behind.

Chelsea are also unpredictable, they are always very dangerous and can play in the Champions League. Napoli are also in fantastic form, conquering Serie A so far and dominating Group A with Liverpool and Ajax. In addition, Porto and Tottenham are also rivals for PSG.

Source: UEFA