Champions League: luck in the draw for PSG?

It’s an air of deja vu. After the inglorious eliminations of Olympique de Marseille and Stade Rennais, donkey caps of their group, with respectively three and one point, PSG will be the only French representative in the round of 16. Qualified from Tuesday, December 8, following the victory of Leipzig against Manchester United (3-2), Paris nevertheless had to wait the next day for the end of its interrupted match against Istanbul Basaksehir after supposedly racist words from the one of the referees to Pierre Achille Webo, the assistant coach of the Istanbul club, to know his final position in his pool.

Winners of the Turkish champions (5-1), the teammates of Neymar, unleashed and author of a hat-trick, secured the first place in their group. This offers them the guarantee of avoiding Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Juventus Turin during the draw for the final phase, scheduled for Monday, December 14 (at 12 p.m., live with commentary on LCI), at UEFA headquarters. It is therefore an opponent, a priori, more affordable that should be offered to them during the eighth, which will be played on February 16-17 and 23-24 for the first legs and on March 9-10 and 16-17 for the matches. return.

At least on paper. Because, once is not custom, the vice-champions of Europe could inherit from Barça, which they have often faced in recent years in the eighths and quarters. The band to Messi left Parisians with bitter memories, including the painful “remountada” of 2017. PSG could also find another old acquaintance, who has done better, Atalanta Bergamo, whom he beat in the quarterfinals final (2-1) in the “Final 8” played in Lisbon, Portugal, last August.

Among their other likely opponents, Thomas Tuchel’s players would be well advised not to draw Atlético de Madrid, La Liga leader they have never faced in C1, and, to a lesser extent, Sevilla FC, holding the Europa League, swept away by Chelsea (4-0). With little experience in the European Cup, Lazio Rome, out of the C1 hens for the first time in 20 years, FC Porto, which has only passed eighth once in these last four participations , and Borussia Mönchengladbach appear to be the teams least likely to worry PSG.

From the point of view of probabilities, it is precisely in Gladbach that Paris is most likely to be opposed, according to the calculations. du journaliste Alexis Martín-Tamayo (18.88%), better known under the nickname “MisterChip”, and by mathematician Julien Guyon (19.2%). However, be careful not to see yourself too beautiful. The teammates of Marcus Thuram and Alassane Pléa, both passed through Ligue 1, qualified in a very tough group, which included Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk. Mistrust will be the order of the day.

Possible opponents of PSG:

Borussia Monchengladbach

Atlético de Madrid

Barcelona

Sevilla FC

Atalanta Bergame

Lazio Rome

Porto

See you this Monday, December 14 at 12 p.m. on LCI to follow the draw with live commentary.