Salzburg, Manchester City, Stuttgart… UCL review!
From the opening win over Girona to the victory against Salzburg, via the cruel result against Atleti, let’s take a look back at Paris Saint-Germain’s UEFA Champions League campaign so far and look ahead to the two crucial remaining fixtures…
A first win at Le Parc…
Paris Saint-Germain welcomed Girona FC to the Parc des Princes for the first outing of the new campaign. Girona were the revelation in Spain last season and they showed why in the French capital. However, Les Rouge et Bleu snatched a deserved 1-0 victory in the end, thanks to a goal from Nuno Mendes, to get their European season off to the best possible start.
…before a tough run
What followed was far more challenging for Les Parisiens as they took their campaign on the road to some of Europe’s biggest clubs. And although Paris always showed their quality, there were defeats away to Arsenal (2-0) and then Bayern Munich (1-0). While at home, the capital club was left ruing its back luck against PSV Eindhoven and Atlético de Madrid, having to settle for a 1-1 draw with the Dutch side, before the cruellest of 2-1 losses, in the final seconds, to Diego Simeone's men.
The rebound in Austria
With their backs against the wall, Paris had no choice but to bounce back. If the French champions wanted to keep their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages alive, only a victory would do in Salzburg. And that’s exactly what they got. Les Parisiens controlled the game from the get-go and got a confidence-building win, courtesy of an early goal from Gonçalo Ramos, before Nuno Mendes and Désiré Doué sealed the Parisians' 3-0 victory in the second half.
A massive month of January
Now it’s time for Paris Saint-Germain to turn their attentions to 2025 and two huge games in a massive month of January on the European stage. Firstly on Wednesday 22 January, Manchester City visit the Parc des Princes, followed by a trip to Stuttgart on Wednesday 29 January (both games kicking off at 21:00 CET), with a ticket to the final phases of the competition at stake. The countdown is on!