Champions League Quarter-Final Is Bare Minimum for Paris Saint-Germain

Hopeful teams throughout Europe get their Champions League campaigns underway this week and to call it a success this year, Paris Saint-Germain at a minimum must reach at the quarter-finals.

In the past two seasons they have reached the last eight and they will be looking to go one stage better this time around, but to get knocked out before the quarter-finals would definitely see Laurent Blanc and his team come under a serious amount of criticism from the French capital.

Although it is difficult to demand progression every year, there at least needs to be signs of development on the pitch. Success cannot just be determined by the final position, as there are a huge number of factors involved in how far clubs can reach in Europe’s elite club competition.

In the previous two competitions, PSG have started the group stage as favourites to progress as leaders, that has changed this time with a group that consists of Ajax, Apoel Nicosia and one of the competition favourites, FC Barcelona.

The Spanish side will be expected to finish top of the group, with PSG following them closely, this would see the French side come up against a group winner. That’s something, in the last two seasons, that they haven’t had to face in the competition.

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From that point there is an element of luck involved in progressing through the competition. The luck of the draw, whether you are home or away for the second leg. Also how the other big sides have fared in the group stage throws up factors you can’t address at this point of the Champions League.

After they were eliminated at the quarter-final stage by Barcelona in 2012, PSG went out and brought in Edinson Cavani, Lucas Digne and Yohan Cabaye in the 12 months that followed. The Parisians were hoping this would help them progress, but again they would fall at the same stage the next season, this time on away goals to English side Chelsea.

However, it’s unfair to say they had not progressed. The second leg was played at Stamford Bridge, and PSG’s 3-1 lead was wiped out due to the away goal that Eden Hazard scored from the penalty spot. If the order of the games had been reversed and the matches followed a similar storyline, it could have quite easily have been PSG that progressed despite losing 2-0 in London.

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Playing away from home with a 3-1 lead is always a dangerous position when the home side score with a good chunk of time remaining. You are stuck between trying to hold on to a lead, while not wanting to push forward recklessly, leaving yourself short at the back. Put PSG at home and level the scores at 3-3 and you have the home fans cheering you on and the shoe is on the other foot.

It’s all theoretical, but these are the scenarios and factors that will determine how far teams progress once it gets down to the knockout stages.

Jacques Brinon/Associated Press

PSG are definitely now in a stronger position. The signings of David Luiz and Serge Aurier has certainly strengthened the defensive line. In the midfield, Laurent Blanc is spoiled for choice, with five quality midfielders to fit into three positions and he still has Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cavani to fire his side into the latter stages.

The French side's domination in the league has led to performances not reaching the high standards that are expected of a side filled with so much talent. Sometimes the expectancy to win every game has brought a level of malaise into their play.

Hope around the Parisians is that the increased competition of the Champions League will snap PSG out of their slumber and bring the best out of the team.

Going forward, the lack of a challenge in the league, could cause the side from the capital to struggle. Expectations are different, but it is a similar situation that Scottish club Celtic have struggled with for years. The jump from the league challenge to the quality of the Champions League can become so great that it is hard to switch between the two competitions.

However, for now, PSG are still far from runaway leaders in France, so that can’t be an excuse. This side is good enough to win the whole competition, if certain factors go their way.

Reaching the quarter-finals must be the bare minimum the team expects, from there they will need lady luck to shine on the Parc des Princes to see them progress one step further.