Paris Saint-Germain: President of Sleeping Giant Wrongfully Content with Slumber

Two games shy of the halfway point in the 2010-11 Ligue 1 season, Paris Saint-Germain are in fantastic shape in domestic competitions and in Europe.

After a disappointing mid-table finish last year, les Parisiens currently sit in second place in Le Championnat with 30 points.

Needless to say, it is a position well earned after beating down rivals Olympique Marseille to claim all three points in Le Classique's first leg, and having already ground out tough away draws with title challengers Lille and Lyon.

They too have a date set with Montpellier in the semifinal of the Coupe de la Ligue.

And with yesterday's frigid one-all draw away to Karpaty Lviv in the final fixture of the Europa League's group stage, the French capital club have finished unbeaten atop a tough Group J including La Liga's Sevilla and Bundesliga chart toppers Borussia Dortmund with 12 points.

In daunting form, PSG have only lost once in their last 21 contests across all competitions and show no signs of slowing down.

The sleeping giant in Paris appears to be stirring, but club president Robin Leproux insists it has merely yawned.

"We mustn't put ourselves under pressure by saying we are competing for the [Ligue 1] title," he told L'Equipe. "We just have to be ambitious, which means finishing inside the top five or six.

"We are improving all the time. But we have to keep building rather than celebrate and take our eye off the ball and risk suddenly plunging."

While PSG are undeniably a work in progress, that does not necessarily call for settling in as a cup team yet again this term.

Fans of les Rouge-et-Bleu have not celebrated league triumph since the 1993-94 campaign, and have not seen a back-to-back stint in France's European qualification spots since the mid-'90s—they are thirsting for new Championnat glory.

And thus far, all appears set in Paris for a title run.

PSG already find themselves in a spot that, if the season ended today, would find them in the UEFA Champions League next year without the expected star contributions from sharpshooting striker Mevlüt Erdinç and midfield maestro Stéphane Sessègnon.

And if solid showings continue from summer signing Nenê (11 goals from 16 appearances), towering target man Guillaume Hoarau (6 goals in 17 games), superb stopper Mamadou Sakho, all led by a world-class midfield general in Claude Makélélé, PSG have what it takes to extend their stay at the top of the Ligue 1 table.

Leafing through the club's history pages though, Paris Saint-Germain has been an underachieving side ever since its 1970 inception.

While the club shined with hope in the early '90s with the likes of David Ginola and George Weah, then again early on this century with top talents Nicolas Anelka and Ronaldinho at Parc des Princes, they simply could not sustain dominance in France, much less establish a presence amongst Europe's elite.

At the outset of this special 40th anniversary season, Leproux stated he aims to find the ever elusive prolonged success for the club, but these recent comments suggest he is satisfied qualifying for the Europa League through Coupe de France victories.

Simply put, that is not what les Parisiens should be shooting for.

"P" in PSG stands for Paris, for goodness' sake!

Look around Europe—dominant teams come from the continent's giant cities.

London boasts Arsenal, Chelsea and has taken recent Champions League pride in Tottenham Hotspur; Spain's two largest cities run out world beaters FC Barcelona and Real Madrid; Milan holds both A.C. and Inter; Munich brags German giants Bayern.

Even in France, Lyon and Marseille have produced respectable clubs finding their niche in European competition, but Paris, a city at the center of the world for a time, has etched nothing notable for itself in association football lore.

Bluntly, PSG absolutely should be a force on the world stage. Based in the City of Light, blessed with financial clout and fortunate enough to have a great volume of fan support, they belong with the best.

This year, and in truth every season before, they should be on a quest for supremacy.

But alas, as Leproux has so painfully reminded parisiens once more, Paris Saint-Germain sit content as a big club with a small club's mentality.