Trouble for the PSG star? The French side will get one of these teams in the eighth round

The Champions League was the main reason PSG brought in Lionel Messi. But the Parisians failed to beat Manchester City in the group stage and only secured second place in the group. So that means they will get one of the group winners, which could spell big trouble.

PSG reached the Champions League final the year before last, but lost to Bayern Munich. Last season, they crashed out to Manchester City in the semi-finals. That’s why the management banged the table, brought in Messi, Ramos, Wijnaldum, Donnarumma, Hakimi, Mendes and didn’t let Mbappe go and wants to win the millionaire competition at any cost this year.

He has no choice as PSG are running out of time. Messi is already 34 years old, Ramos is 35. Mbappé will probably leave as a free agent to Real Madrid after the season and PSG’s star team will fall apart again. It’s now or never, only the Parisians have made it difficult for themselves again.

Due to a loss to Manchester City and a draw with Brugge, the French colossus only progressed from second place in the group. This means they will get a much stronger opponent on paper than they would have expected as group winners.

While as the winner he could face Sporting Lisbon, Benfica, Inter, Salzburg or Atlético Madrid, for example, he will face the toughest possible opponents from the second place in the competition.

Bayern Munich
Liverpool
Real Madrid
Manchester United
Juventus

The first three opponents would be extremely difficult. Bayern are running like a machine pulled by Lewandowski, Liverpool are relying on the great attacking trio of Salah – Jota – Mané. Real Madrid are pulled by the duo of Benzema – Vinícius and have been playing in amazing form this season. In addition, all three teams are perfectly organised, which as we saw against Manchester City, a PSG style based on stellar individualities, does not do well.

Perhaps only the other two opponents would be a little more viable. Juventus advanced from first place thanks to Chelsea’s collapse at Zenit, but it hasn’t been the dreaded Juventus for a while now, having reached the Champions League final twice in 2015-2017.

Manchester United were dragged through the Champions League by Cristiano Ronaldo himself, but the question is what strategist Ralf Rangnick will do with the team. The material in his squad is incredible and he can turn the Red Devils into a functioning machine by February, when the eighth-final is played.

Either way, PSG are not expecting anything easy in the eighth round. So maybe it wouldn’t be a big surprise if the set of stars were to be dealt with in the eighth round. If they perform as well as they did in the group stage, it won’t be far off.

Source: UEFA