Champions League
Battle declarations and rivalries: Barça against Mbappé team
In the duel with FC Barcelona, PSG is hoping for Mbappé’s goals again. photo
© Thibault Camus/AP/dpa
The FC Barcelona professionals around Ilkay Gündogan should not feel welcome in the Prinzenpark. PSG superstar Kylian Mbappé can already practice for upcoming Clásicos on the pitch.
The atmosphere has been poisonous for years, the recent clash between Paris Saint-Germain and the FC Barcelona revives all animosity. “More than a rivalry,” was the headline in France’s sports paper “L’Équipe” one day before the first leg in the Parc des Princes in Paris on Wednesday (9 p.m./DAZN). “More than an elimination game” was what “Sport” said in Spain.
There are reasons for this, and they are closely linked to world-famous names such as Neymar. But this also has sporting reasons. The defeat against Barça in the 2016/2017 Champions League season is still painfully burned into the memory of the French capital club. PSG defeated the Catalans at home 4-0 on February 14, 2017, Julian Draxler, who was then employed by the Parisians, also scored, and Kevin Trapp was in goal.
A humiliation for PSG with serious repercussions
Like on March 8th of the same year, when PSG wanted to make everything clear at the Camp Nou and reach the quarter-finals. But it was a historic humiliation for the Parisians: FC Barcelona – already with Marc-André ter Stegen in goal – won 6-1.
The fact that the Catalans tried to bring in the then PSG top performer Marco Verratti in the same year, but in return PSG lured Brazil’s Neymar away from FC Barcelona for a record sum of 222 million euros, caused some observers to finally break between the two clubs . “L’Équipe” wrote about “hate” before the two duels.
It is very questionable whether there was still a need for a call from the organized PSG fans, but the Collectif Ultras Paris did not miss it. “This unworthy Barcelona, often favored by the referees, must feel that they are in more than hostile territory,” it said. “It is our duty to make the park a formidable fortress for the opponent and, together with the determination of our team, to make it impregnable.”
Last chance for the title for Barça, PSG hopes for a triple
Things should be very busy on the pitch. The guests from Barcelona have been waiting for the next title – it would be their fifth – in the Champions League since their triumph in 2015; Barça also won the European Cup once. In the Primera División, the team around German national team captain Ilkay Gündogan and keeper Ter Stegen as well as ex-Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski is eight points behind arch-rivals Real Madrid, and the title defense is almost a thing of the past. In the Copa del Rey they were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Coach Xavi Hernandez wants to vacate his position after the season anyway. “It’s cruel. You often feel like you’re not being respected,” Xavi said when he announced his resignation in January this year.
PSG, meanwhile, leads Ligue 1 by ten points and is also in the final of the French Cup competition. The Parisians suffered their last defeat to date on November 7th last year with a 2-1 defeat in the Champions League at AC Milan. “We have an incredible series at the moment, very positive. But we want to extend it,” announced coach Luis Enrique.
Mbappé’s announcement: “Moment for the big players”
For the 53-year-old Spaniard, the quarter-final duels with FC Barcelona will also be special games from a personal perspective. He is one of the Barça legends, played for the club and he coached the club when they defeated PSG in the Champions League in 2017. “Playing against Barcelona is difficult for me from an emotional point of view, but at the same time it is stimulating,” he said in an interview before the game on the PSG website.
One person in particular will have a decisive influence on his team: Kylian Mbappé. For the former world champion from France, it will also be an introduction to what awaits him if he moves to Real Madrid. Before that, he wants to lead PSG to their first triumph in the European championship. Despite the money from the owners from Qatar, that hasn’t happened yet; under the then coach Thomas Tuchel, Mbappé & Co. failed in the final in Lisbon against FC Bayern in 2020.
“This is the moment for the great players,” Mbappé told the French broadcaster “Téléfoot” before the game against FC Barcelona: “I’m ready and, as always, I won’t hide.”