Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City meet at the Parc des Princes in arguably the most important game across match day seven of the league phase in the Champions League today.
Many would have expected this to be a dead rubber at the beginning of the competition, but it has since taken on huge importance for both after dreadful starts on the continent.
Despite winning away to Red Bull Salzburg on match day six, PSG still find themselves in a perilous position ahead of facing the Premier League champions this week.
Luis Enrique’s men remain outside the top 24, just one place below it on seven points, with the Salzburg win seeing them register as many wins and score as many goals as they had managed in their previous seven Champions League games.
Four points is the absolute minimum requirement if they want to be assured of a playoff place, because a defeat here will leave it out of their hands before travelling to Stuttgart on the final match day.
However, confidence has been restored by that Salzburg win, because after going three games without victory, they have since won eight straight matches since their visit to Austria.
PSG were handed one of the toughest draws of any team in the league phase, having to face Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and now Man City, but taking just one point against the three of them prior to this week is still massively disappointing.
The Parisians have only won of their seven meetings with Man City, but that came in their last meeting at the Parc des Princes, winning 2-0 despite registering just six shots all evening – the lowest in a home match in their Champions League history.
Manager Enrique also has a fine record against his opposite number Pep Guardiola, losing just two of their five previous clashes, and being one of only two managers (along with Jurgen Klopp) to have beaten the City boss by three or more goals on multiple occasions.
City’s season has played out in a similar fashion to PSG’s, with a dismal start in Europe also crossing over into their league form, but they now appear back on track after four wins in five games.
After losing just three games in 28 on the road in the Champions League, City have now lost back-to-back away games, their worst run since the 2011-12 season, going down to Sporting Lisbon and Juventus, hugely damaging their chances of making it through.
City enter match day seven just inside the playoff places, one point above PSG.
A 4-1 thrashing at Sporting, a calamitous collapse at home to Feyenoord, and a dismal display in Turin against Juve has put City in this position, after they had taken seven points from their first three games.
City’s only wins have come against minnows Slovan Bratislava, and fellow pot-four outfit Sparta Prague, and even though a win against Club Brugge on matchday eight is expected, and should be enough to progress, losing here would make that encounter extremely nervy for the home crowd.—sportsmole
