Pochettino hoping PSG’s home form will improve against Bayern in 2nd leg
PARIS (Reuters) – Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino is hoping his team’s home form will match it away performances as it carries a 3-2 advantage against Bayern Munich into their Champions League quarterfinal second leg at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night.
The French champion advanced from the last-16 with a 4-1 away win in the first leg against Barcelona before suffering in the return leg at home in a 1-1 draw.
In Ligue 1, PSG’s best performance of the season came last month in a 4-2 win at Olympique Lyonnais, which was followed nine days ago by a 1-0 home loss to Lille.
“I agree that we’ve been better away from home,” Pochettino told a news conference on Monday. “It is something we will have to look into at the end of the season but let’s hope things start turning around tomorrow.”
PSG suffered in Munich last Wednesday with the German champion boasting 31 attempts on goal, but Pochettino’s team was ruthless up front with Kylian Mbappe scoring a double.
It will, however, be without captain Marquinhos in the starting 11 after the centre-back picked up an adductor muscle injury in the first leg.
“I don’t know yet if he will be playing,” said Pochettino. “We will see how he feels tomorrow and he could be in the squad but I don’t think he will be able to start. So maybe he’ll be on the bench.”
Italy midfielder Marco Verratti is eligible following a weeklong isolation after being infected by COVID-19 while on international duty, but he is also unlikely to start.
“In principle, it will be difficult for Marco to start while Alessandro Florenzi’s situation will be assessed tomorrow,” added the Argentine coach.
Italy full back Florenzi also tested positive for COVID-19 upon his return from international duty.
Pochettino, who labeled Bayern as the “best team in Europe, best team in the world,” said PSG’s attitude would be key.
“It was already hard to keep the ball against Barcelona already, it doesn’t matter who is playing. It’s a question of collective attitude,” he explained.
“It’s a challenge for tomorrow, being able to keep the ball and hurt the opposition.
“The Barca game is behind us and the Bayern game is another story. There will be moments when we will struggle and it’s in these moments that we will need to show solidarity and solidity.”
Chelsea aims to eliminate Porto
Meanwhile, Chelsea hosts Porto in their quarterfinal second leg, with the English side nursing a 2-0 advantage.
The first game may have been in Seville, but Chelsea pulled off the archetypal European away display. The Blues’ well-drilled defense withstood long spells of Porto superiority, allowing two moments of individual excellence at the other end – the first Champions League goals for Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell – to secure a valuable victory.
“We have to accept against Porto that the game will be up and down,” noted Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel. “Sometimes they overload sides and give you a lot of questions. If we want to end the season with a trophy then we had better win [this match and the weekend FA Cup semifinal against Manchester City] or it will be a bit difficult. The most important thing is to fully focus on what we do, forget we already have a result [like] we did against Palace [in the league at the weekend]. We can be confident. We are always a tough team to play against.”
On the other side, Porto coach Sergio Conceicao said that his players have plenty of fight left in them.
“We are confident. We know that we face a difficult task, but we are here to give the answer that we have to give. In these games, going all out from the off can be harmful. We have to be a compact, cohesive team. We have to score goals, but also to avoid conceding. We were good in the first leg, but not that good; if we were, we would have won. We will try to improve on what was a good team performance.”
Champions League quarterfinals second leg: Tuesday: Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich (PSG leads 3-2 from 1st leg); Chelsea vs FC Porto (Chelsea leads 2-0 from 1st leg) (games not on TV due to Israel Memorial Day). Wednesday: Liverpool vs Real Madrid (Real leads 3-1 from 1st leg) (live on Sport5 at 10 p.m.); Borussia Dortmund vs Manchester City (Man City leads 2-1 from 1st leg) (live on Sport5+ at 10 p.m.).