Champions League football returns to north London this week when Paris Saint-Germain come to town, as two of the biggest names in world football go head-to-head.
The team from the French capital need no introduction, but how much do you know about their past glories and present stars? Here’s all you need to know about our opponents:
The history
PSG are a relatively new team, having begun life in 1970 following a merger between Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain and crowdfunded by supporters. The Division 2 title was claimed in their first season, but within three years disagreements behind the scenes saw Paris FC split away again, and PSG demoted to the third tier.
Using their youth team, they earned back-to-back promotions to reach the top-flight again, where they have remained ever since. A first of 15 French Cups arrived in 1982, and three years later they won their maiden league championship, but financial problems saw a swift decline.
A takeover from TV station Canal+ ushered in an era of success including a second league title in 1994 and a first European success in the form of the 1996 Cup Winners’ Cup. However the 2000s gave way to more struggles and even a flirtation with relegation, but a Qatari-based takeover in 2011 changed everything. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar and Lionel Messi have helped them dominate French football since, winning 10 league titles in the past 12 seasons, but the Champions League continues to evade them.
The stadium
Sport has been played on the Parc des Princes site since 1897, including matches at the 1938 World Cup, and two previous stadiums were built and knocked down before the current structure was created in 1972. PSG played their first game there a year later, and across the next 25 years, it regularly held French Cup finals, international football and rugby matches, European Cup finals and the final of Euro 84 when France won their first major honour. It was also where we lost the 1994/95 Cup Winners' Cup final against Real Zaragoza.
The creation of the Stade de France in 1998 has seen its status as France’s premier sporting venue diminish, but it has continued to be utilised for World Cup 98, the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Euro 2016 and the Olympic Games earlier this year. It currently has a capacity of 48,229 but there are hopes to begin expanding that in the coming years.
The manager
Luis Enrique is now in his second season in charge of PSG, and is approaching his 500th game in management. A highly decorated midfielder during his playing days, he represented both Real Madrid and Barcelona and won three La Liga titles and a Cup Winners’ Cup, plus an Olympic gold medal with Spain whom he represented at three World Cups.
After hanging up his boots in 2004, he succeeded Pep Guardiola as Barcelona B manager, and after stints at Roma and Celta Vigo he returned to the Nou Camp in 2014. In his three seasons in charge he won the 2015 Champions League, the Club World Cup and completed two league and cup doubles, and after four years as Spain manager, he headed to Paris.
Last season
Enrique nearly enjoyed the perfect campaign in his first year in the dugout, as he guided PSG to a domestic double, despite the departures of Neymar and Marco Verratti. They only lost twice on their way to a third successive championship, hitting top spot in November and finishing nine points clear of second-placed Monaco, and clinched the French Cup after beating Lyon in the final in what proved to be Kylian Mbappe's final game for the club.
However the holy grail for the Parisians is a first Champions League title, and after scraping through a group with just two wins and a 4-1 loss at Newcastle United, they beat Real Sociedad and Barcelona to reach the semi-finals. Up against a Borussia Dortmund side they had taken four points off in the group stages, 1-0 defeats in both legs ensured the wait continues.
The squad
The summer saw Mbappe’s protracted move to Real Madrid play out, but there is still plenty of talent at Enrique’s disposal. Brazilian defender and the club’s record appearance holder Marquinhos captains the side, marshalling a backline that has Italian number one Gianluigi Donnarumma behind it.
Fabian Ruiz [above] was named in the Euro 2024 Team of the Tournament after starring for champions Spain, while Ousmane Dembele, Warren Zaire-Emery, Randal Kolo Muani and Bradley Barcola were in France’s squad.
Lucas Hernandez and Presnel Kimpembe are 2018 World Cup winners with Les Bleus, while right-back Achraf Hakimi played a big role in helping Morocco reach the semi-finals of the 2022 edition.
The season so far
This summer saw PSG acquire defensive midfielder Joao Neves from Benfica, Ecuadorian centre-back Willian Pacho, goalkeeper Matvey Safonov and teenage winger Desire Doue for a combined total of £142 million. As well as Mbappe, Keylor Navas, Renato Sanches, Manuel Ugarte and Hugo Ekitike departed, while Xavi Simons saw his loan spell at RB Leipzig extended.
The Ligue 1 campaign saw four wins from the opening four games, with 16 goals netted in that time. However, a 1-1 draw at Reims followed their Champions League opener, which saw them labour to a 1-0 home win against Girona, where a weak cross by Nuno Mendes was fumbled into his net by former Tottenham goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga in the last minute.
Friday night saw them beat Rennes at the Parc des Princes 3-1, with Barcola helping himself to a brace and moving to six goals in his six league outings this term to lead the Ligue 1 scoring charts.
The previous meetings
We boast an unbeaten record against the Parisians, having first met in the 1993/94 European Cup Winners Cup semi-final. A 1-1 draw in France was followed by a 1-0 home success with the late Kevin Campbell grabbing the crucial goal to book our spot in the final, when we beat Parma to lift the silverware.
There were also a pair of draws in the 2016/17 Champions League group stage when Unai Emery was PSG boss. Alexis Sanchez cancelled out a first-minute Edison Cavani strike and Verratti and Olivier Giroud were dismissed late on in the French capital, but the pair grabbed our goals in another entertaining affair in N5 when Cavani had again opened the scoring, but another own goal, this time from Alex Iwobi, saw the spoils shared again.
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