This time, it will have to be won. “It’s a final for us”, announces Thomas Tuchel, aware of the blaze on which he sets off on Tuesday evening (9 pm) against Leipzig, not in search of a European title but of a right of pursuit , between sacred fire and fire to be extinguished. Nothing will be final one way or the other after Leipzig, but let’s say that a defeat would have a foretaste of elimination from the 2020-2021 Champions League.
VIDEO. PSG-Leptzig: “It’s a final for us”, announces Tuchel
From August 23 to November 24, PSG therefore plays a final again. The first time he wanted fame, he just gained credibility. The second, he wants to avoid ridicule, fiasco, industrial and financial accident. In a covid economy, the bankruptcy of the capital club would put even more strain on the budget of an SME which recruits players in the form of a loan and remembers that it is very difficult to fire his coach when he asks for the amount of his allowances.
Three months ago, the German could become the first coach to lift the Big Ears Cup. Now, he could remain as the first in the QSI era to miss out on knockout matches. You always have to choose your first times.
Thomas Tuchel is still there and the coach knows the recipe. For his debut, he managed to finish 1st in a pool with Naples and Liverpool, future winner of the event. With all the respect they deserve, neither Leipzig nor Manchester United are advancing in the competition with the robot portrait of the European champion team in 2021. It is precisely to dream of spring, of a little more stadiums trimmed in a declining pandemic that PSG has every good reason to win.
It’s a team or even a club that also likes to build its history and its legend when it finds itself back against the wall. It’s a good night to respect your DNA. And keep it. The case will stretch for at least another week and the trip to Manchester, where the prospect of the abyss will remain the same, even if successful in Leipzig. PSG is walking on a wire with a full backpack (Neymar still a little tight, Kimpembe suspended) and the arrival is not for now.
Until then, we must shed some burdens. A few months ago, in its Lisbon bubble, the PSG displayed a camaraderie, a solidarity and a collective consistency which have since disappeared, in particular under the shouting of Tuchel-Leonardo and the futile controversies on the place of football in Paris. It’s time to find a little lightness, the best way to gain height. In the standings, it would already be good.
