In order to be the best, you have to beat the best, goes the tiring old saying – which is not even true in many cases.
Italy deserved world champions in 2006, for example, even though they only had to face Ghana, the United States, the Czech Republic, Australia and Ukraine before eventually meeting Germany and finalists France.
Top dog | Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images
So, maybe because be the best, you have to beat or not meet the best, is more accurate. We’re really getting closer …
The Champions League is a completely different animal and a freaky pattern has emerged in the last decade. In fact, eight of the last nine Champions League have been won by either Bayern Munich or the team that beat Bayern on their way to glory.
Real Madrid was the lucky departure in 2015/16 and scraped to the penalty shootout success against rivals Atletico Madrid in the final – the team that beat Die Roten in the semis.
So, let’s do it right, once and for all. In order to be the best, you have to beat Bavaria. There, I think we have cracked it.
????? of the latest ???? The Champions Leagues have either been won by Bayern or by the team that beat Bayern.
PSG right now:? pic.twitter.com/huP6k6EZaO
– 90min (@ 90min_Football) 14 April 2021
So with the newly formed saying in mind, it’s time to recognize Paris Saint-Germain’s place among footballers. Whether we like it or not, there may well be a new name for the Champions League trophy this season.
And for all the ridicule and ridicule we have thrown at the French giants in recent years, we must admit that they may just be in the best position to conquer Europe for the first time in their history. It is also difficult to admit.
For PSG are so easily hateful. In fact, their star player Neymar is the perfect personification of his club: insanely talented and undeniably good at football – but infinitely hateful and impossible to like.
Their mockery of the child Erling Haaland and his celebration in last year’s European quarterfinals made the whole group seem very petty and more interested in solving points than actually having the tunnel vision for success.
. @ KMbappe and PSG did Erling Haaland’s signature celebration in the locker room? pic.twitter.com/SVpheH6ZXY
– ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 11, 2020
Small, “tinpot” measures for a team that hopes to cement its place among football’s elite.
That group was forced to swallow their medicine at the end of the campaign, when ex-PSG star Kingsley Coman scored the winning goal for Bayern in the Champions League final and broke Parisian hearts.
Tuesday night’s 1-0 home win, but the total success on away goals over the reigning champions was a moment of personal and collective growth for the French giants. Neymar and Kylian Mbappe sometimes played on their own planet and tortured a Bayern defense who called for help from those in front of them.
Although PSG failed to score at night, it was the deadly duo’s combination of endless tricks and blowing pace that won the match for the hosts. The knowledge that the unstoppable pair only needed an inch of space to trigger devastation meant that Bayern held the handbrake for large periods of the other leg, even though another goal was required.
?? Paris locker room celebration after reaching the semifinals! ? @PSG_ English | #UCL pic.twitter.com/bPDLDVsrPf
– UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) 14 April 2021
And just as we spectators spent the majority of the match fascinated by Mbappe’s Roadrunner speed and Neymar’s dazzling footwork (and his freakish ability to hit the woodwork), the Bayern defense was too busy to notice the presence of Angel Di Maria and Julian Draxler.
Most importantly, this luxury castle was not built on sand. Behind the front line was a strong, stable and mobile midfield, organized by the ball and well drilled to overturn the possession and release their superstars.
Idrissa Gueye never stopped closing opponents and biting in tackles, while Leandro Paredes filled Marco Verratti’s boots admirably. The last lines of defense rejected almost everything that came their way, with the provisional midfielder Danilo Pereira filling in for the talismanic Marquinhos.
ALLEZ PARIS? ❤️? pic.twitter.com/MI8b3UOmi5
– Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) April 13, 2021
It was a heroic, heartfelt, lively effort from a club that many would argue that her heart and spirit have been torn from within it over the past decade. And that change has come with the addition of Mauricio Pochettino – the man who has brought all this together.
Less has been made of PSG’s injury list, but of the four backs who ended the match on Tuesday, only one can be considered a recognized first-class defender. Pochettino has transformed this group from a lot of caricatures and almost men and created a band that is not built on defiance and hatred with a chip on his shoulder.
Damn, they’re almost popular as a team. Almost.
There is genuine love between these players, as shown by the passionate celebrations of Neymar and Paredes in the final whistle. They know they took a huge scalp in this Champions League quarter-final, and it should have given them the confidence to go face to face with any other team in this competition.
Intended to become a champion | Xavier Laine / Getty Images
No club that can boast of Mbappe’s and Neymar’s talents, with the quality of a coach like Pochettino, and who has just beaten the current reigning European champions can ever consider themselves underdogs – and this group finally seems to have accepted the high expectations. .
It’s time to deliver.
