Paris St Germain must produce an outstanding performance against Manchester City on Tuesday if they are going to reach the Champions League semifinals for the first time, coach Laurent Blanc said on Monday.
Football Soccer - Paris St Germain Training - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England - 11/4/16
Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc during training
Action Images via Reuters / Jason Cairnduff
MANCHESTER, England: Paris St Germain must produce an
outstanding performance against Manchester City on Tuesday if they are
going to reach the Champions League semifinals for the first time, coach
Laurent Blanc said on Monday.
The 50-year-old, back in the city where he played for
Manchester United from 2001-2003, said that although City held a "small
advantage" after the first leg of their quarter-final ended in a 2-2
draw in Paris last week, PSG were coming to the Etihad determined to put
right last week's mistakes.
At his pre-match briefing at the Etihad Stadium, Blanc said
PSG needed to tighten up defensively and not give City the space they
allowed them last week. "But to do that, we are going to have to produce
an outstanding performance," he said.
There are plenty of similarities between two clubs that are
now backed by hugely wealthy Arab investors, with some commentators
dubbing this the "petrodollar derby".
Manchester City were enriched by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi
in 2008 while the Qatar Investment Authority acquired PSG in 2011,
turning them into the most powerful force in French football.
Despite all that wealth though, neither club has advanced to
the last four of the Champions League, and while PSG are appearing in
the quarter-finals for the fourth successive year, City are only playing
in their first quarter-final.
Blanc admitted that both clubs have similar "projects" and
reiterated that PSG's goal is to win the Champions League sooner or
later.
"If we win tomorrow it will help create a new era of French
football, it will change things and it would be a real breakthrough if
we get to the semifinals for the first time.
"But that is not the ultimate objective. Expectations are
high for us and will remain high until we finally become European
champions," he added.
Expanding on his expectations for Tuesday's match, Blanc
said there was not a lot to choose between the teams from an attacking
point of view.
"There are definitely going to be goals. When you look at
the chances we created last week, we scored twice as well as missing a
penalty - that was not bad. But the goals we conceded irritated me and
the defenders," said Blanc.
"We are going to have to be far more compact, and play better defensively and not allow City the room to create chances."
Blanc would not be drawn on whether influential Italian
midfielder Marco Verratti would be fit enough to play after being out
since the end of February, but he seemed to err on the side of caution:
"It is going to be a very tough match tomorrow, very difficult."
(Reporting by Mike Collett; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
- Reuters
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