PSG bank on home support against Real
Manager Unai Emery prods his troops to put on a spirited show to overcome Madrid giants
PARIS : Paris St Germain are hoping their Parc des Princes crowd will help them overturn a 3-1 deficit in their Champions League last-16 return leg against Real Madrid as they try to cope without the injured Neymar.
The talismanic Brazilian forward was ruled out of the game on Tuesday after undergoing foot surgery, but PSG coach Unai Emery is confident the home fans will play a key role.
“You play a game with your head and your heart. Tomorrow the heart will be the most important thing,” Emery told a news conference on Monday. “And we will be playing with 12 players tomorrow because we will have the backing of the crowd.”
PSG have lost their last five return legs in the Champions League, notably going out in the last 16 last season when they slumped to a 6-1 loss at Barcelona after beating the Spanish side 4-0 in Paris. “Our team, even without Neymar, is able to beat the best Real Madrid team,” said Emery.
“With Neymar, PSG is stronger, but we are still strong without him,” full back Dani Alves said. “There are two options: either we sit and cry, or we stand on our feet and fight.”
If they are to knock out the defending champions, PSG will need to be more focused than during the first leg, when they conceded twice in the last 10 minutes.
“In the first leg we played better, had the best opportunities. But this time we need to do that for 90 minutes, not just 80,” Alves said.
MBAPPE PLOTS REAL DOWNFALL
It is not so long ago that Kylian Mbappe idolised Cristiano Ronaldo. Now the 19-year-old is hoping to lead Paris Saint-germain to a famous victory over the Portuguese star and Real Madrid.
Mbappe was outshone by Ronaldo in the sides’ Champions League last 16, first leg last month, with the world player of the year scoring twice as Madrid won 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
While Neymar recovers from the operation in his home country, the expectation on Mbappe becomes greater. But there is no evidence that he will wilt under the added pressure.
“The little guy is clever and that, for me, is the sign of a bloke who can go far,” Thierry Henry, to whom he has been compared, told Canal+ last year.
Mbappe has won a Ligue 1 title and been to a Champions League semi-final with Monaco. He has reached 10 caps for France and turned down a move to Real.
“There were a lot of rumours about my transfer and it is true that I spoke to Real, but that is in the past now,” he told Spanish sports daily Marca in December.
He wanted to stay in French football, then, and so chose Monaco. Nevertheless, having once plastered his bedroom wall with posters of Ronaldo, he could not miss the chance to grab a selfie with his hero. But Mbappe, scorer of 16 goals for PSG this season, is no longer in awe of the five-time Ballon d’or winner.
“He was one of my idols as a child and it was nice to meet him when I visited Valdebebas. I loved him when I was little but that is finished,” he said.