Follow the curse at PSG

Since Nasser Al Khelaïfi landed at PSG, the Parisian team has become one of the great rivals to beat in the Champions League. However, the current leaders of Ligue 1 have had to face countless setbacks due to the continuous injuries that have plagued the team. In ten years, PSG have had to deal without several of their best players to face the qualifiers for the top continental competition, a tradition that could be repeated against Real Madrid, since Neymar, Walls Y bouquets They are doubt until the last minute.

It all started in the 2012/2013 season, when PSG faced Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals, with Ancelotti on the bench. ANDhe Italian coach could not count on either Thiago Motta or Matuidi and Barça ended up going through to the next round. The pattern was repeated a year later against Chelsea. In the penultimate instance of the European CupPSG lost Ibrahimovic and Van der Wiel and ended up eliminated by a goal from Demba Ba in the last minutes of the second leg.

In the 2014/2015, the plague of injuries was unstoppable. In the round of 16, and although he ended up taking revenge on Chelsea, Laurent Blanc could not count on Motta, Aurier, Cabaye or Lucas Moura in the first leg. On the return leg at Stamford Bridge, the coach lost Lucas Moura and Aurier, but ended up heroically passing. In that season, the earthquake occurred in fourthyes Barcelona swept PSG both in the first leg and in the second leg and, in the match played at the Parc des Princes (0-3), Blanc had Ibrahimovic, Verratti, Aurier and Thiago Motta injured. Although the tie was already settled, PSG traveled to Barcelona without Thiago Silva, Thiago Motta and Aurier.

Blanc’s journey with PSG ended in the worst possible way in the Champions League. PSG had beaten Manchester City 2-1 in the first leg of the quarterfinals in 2016 and the opportunity to reach the semi-finals was unique. However, at the Etihad meeting, the French coach, who could not count on Verratti, injured, had to improvise by losing Thiago Motta and Matuidi in the middle of the match, ending the game with an atypical defense of three central defenders that succumbed to Pellegrini’s (1-0).

During the last few seasons,The most marked injury that PSG has had in the knockout rounds of the Champions League has been that of Neymar. Since the Brazilian landed in the French capital in 2017, the Parisian team has not been able to count on the midfielder in three of the four round of 16 they have played in the highest European competition. He was not in the second leg against Real Madrid in 2018, he missed the entire tie against Manchester United in 2019, he was in 2020 against Dortmund and, finally, he was injured before the double confrontation against Barcelona in 2021. Until the last minute, the former Barcelona player is a doubt to face Real Madrid on Tuesday, as well as Paredes, injured in the abductor, and Sergio Ramos, who is practically ruled out for the Parc des Princes contest. Without a doubt, PSG has a curse with those who have been injured for many years in the Champions League.