Paris Saint-Germain haven’t been a European footballing power for very long. Some may still say that the Parisians aren’t in the class of the other elite clubs just yet. But the three-time defending Ligue 1 champions are on a mission this year, and the final end result is hopefully an unprecedented French quadruple. They had their fourth straight Ligue 1 sewn up two weeks ago. They are in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France and the finals of the Coupe de la Ligue. But the crown jewel of their season would be a victory in the Champions League, a competition that they’ve flamed out of in the quarter-finals in each of the last three seasons. With Barcelona, both Madrid sides, and Bayern Munich still in the tournament, the odds are stacked against PSG. However, those who have paid attention this season know that sleeping on Zlatan Ibrahimovic and company is something you do at your own peril.
Ever since an infusion of Qatari money in 2012, PSG has gone from a French afterthought to one of the more prominent sides in world football. They’ve gone from taking risks on questionable talents to recruiting some of the sport’s brightest stars, established and rising. They’ve overloaded their trophy case in the past three plus seasons, nearly doubling the amount of silverware at the Parc des Princes. With all this new found success though, they’ve still yet to find that cutting edge in the latter stages of the Champions League. They are hoping that the circumstances surrounding this season will allow them to buck that trend.
As previously stated, they mathematically clinched their fourth straight Ligue 1 crown with a 9-0 obliteration of bottom of the table Troyes. Ibrahimovic netted a nine minute hat trick during the contest and ended up further padding his league leading goal tally with four overall. They had created a wider gap over them and the team in second place, Monaco in this instance, than any other team in Europe. That was still the case even after dropping their first home game in nearly two years to that Monaco side this past weekend. Even with the international break looming, it was clear where PSG’s priorities lied.
They have one league game after the break as they host Nice, but it is the game the following Wednesday that is circled on manager Laurent Blanc’s calendar. Manchester City, a team with a similar club trajectory and history of European disappointment, comes to Paris for the first leg of the UCL quarters. While PSG have excelled across all competitions this year though, City have found themselves struggling for consistency. They did win the Capital One Cup though and even battered still possess one of the world’s preeminent strike forces. But having faced Barcelona in two of the last three years at this stage, with Chelsea sandwiched in between, City will be a more than welcome sight.
The legendary Zlatan has been the figurehead of this amazing season for PSG, but he isn’t alone in this fight for their immortality. Ezequiel Lavezzi may now be plying his trade in China, but there is still a superfluous amount of talent surrounding Ibra in what could be the final French season in his incredible nomadic football career. And while the Swede has made it abundantly clear that he’s heavily leaning towards an exit, the waters are rather muddied in regards to the futures of Angel di Maria, Edinson Cavani, Lucas Moura, Javier Pastore, and Blaise Matuidi. As money starts to pile up in England, as well as in the burgeoning Asian market, this could very well be the last chance for this conglomerate at PSG to bring home the big one.
Their two domestics cups are of little consequence against two teams, Lille and Lorient, with nowhere near the firepower to hang with them. But even if both of those contests didn’t go according to the “script”, a Champions League victory would more than make up for it. They have the ability. They got the favorable draw. They have Zlatan. They have their doubters fueling them. After the tragic attacks of last fall they have the world behind them. Paris Saint-Germain are built for this. Whether or not they can win everything in their path this year remains to be seen. But I for one do not possess the marbles to bet against them.