Time for PSG to step up

It’s time for Paris Saint-Germain to live up to its own hype, and what better way than knocking Real Madrid out of the Champions League without Neymar?

The teams meet tomorrow at Parc des Princes, with PSG trailing 3-1 after capitulating late in the first leg of the round of 16.

For several seasons now, some PSG players have talked themselves up as good enough to win the Champions League. Yet the hard fact staring back at them from the gilded mirror is that, despite enormous investment from Qatari owners QSI for nearly seven years, PSG has never been beyond the quarter-finals in that time.

This season feels like make-orbreak for PSG to be taken seriously as one of Europe’s elite clubs.

But there is a huge hurdle to overcome first: Madrid.

With three Champions League titles in the past four years, and 12 overall, Madrid is precisely the club PSG dreams about becoming one day.

But coach Unai Emery’s side must first focus on turning around the 3-1 deficit — and doing so without Neymar, who was injured last month. Also tomorrow, five-time champion Liverpool is at home to two-time champion Porto, having won 5-0 away.

On Thursday Tottenham is at home to two-time winner Juventus, last year’s runner-up, having drawn 2-2 in Turin while Swiss club Basel go to Manchester City trailing 4-0. AP