PSG - A European superpower in the making

The club with the crest which presents in itself a red silhouette of the Eiffel Tower and the white royal cradle of Louis XIV on a blue background might become a footballing superpower in the years to come. Yes, I am talking about Paris Saint-Germain.

PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 18: Marco Verratti (C) attends a press conference with Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi (L) and PSG

Paris Saint-Germain was founded in 1970. Since then it has won 2 league titles, 8 french cups, 3 league cups and 2 Trophees des champions. PSG has also won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996. Although this barely makes it a European superpower. Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is now the sole shareholder of PSG making it one of the richest clubs in the world and certainly the richest in France. The QIA is expected to invest around 100 million Euros in the years to come to help Carlo Ancelotti build an impressive squad that could challenge the ‘Big Guns’ in Europe and also win domestic competitions. Carlo Ancelotti has won the UEFA Champions League twice, both of them with AC Milan. He is a very experienced manager and in him, PSG have a very good mentor for all the players. Ancelotti and Leonardo (Director of football at PSG) toghether have invested wisely so far, only buying players which PSG need. They have already built a competitive team and although they finished second behind Montpellier in Ligue 1 in 2011-12, it seems as though they won’t have any competiton for first place in the 2012-13 campaign.

PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 18: Zlatan Ibrahimovic attends a Paris Saint-Germain photocall after signing for the club, at Trocadero on July 18, 2012 in Paris, France. on July 18, 2012 in Paris, France. (Photo by Marc Piasecki/Getty Images)

In terms of European success, they still have a long way to go. But with quality players such as Ezequiel Lavezzi, Mamadou Sakho, Jeremy Menez, Guillaume Hoarau, Blaise Matuidi, Javier Pastore and the recently acquired Marco Verratti, Thiago Silva and of course Zlatan Ibrahimovich, it seems it won’t be long before they achieve European glory.

Their squad for next season is strong enough to go past the group stages of the Champions League and unless they are drawn in a very tough group, I think PSG will make it through to the Round of 16. Expecting them to reach the final or even the semis won’t be right as they will have to face teams which will have a higher degree of team cohesiveness and better teams than they usually do, considering they play in Ligue 1. PSG play a conventional 4-5-1 i.e. a 4-2-3-1 with two holding midfielders.

PARIS – MAY 01: French midfielder and captain Claude Makelele (2nd R) celebrates with the Paris Saint Germain football club teammates after winning the French football Cup final between Paris Saint Germain and A.S Monaco at Stade de France on May 1, 2010 in Paris, France. Paris Saint Germain won 1-0. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

PSG’s starting XI will be a very strong line-up. The 25 year old Italian international Sirigu will be in goal for the Parisians, of that there is very little doubt. Carlo Ancelotti will play Siaka Tiene on the left side of his defence with the strong partnership of Sakho and Thiago Silva in the middle of the defense and Lugano/Bisevac in the right back position. The two holding midfielders will most probably be Chantome (although Matuidi has been impressive) and Sissoko. The three behind the striker will be in the form of Lavezzi (LAM/LF), Pastore (CAM) and Jeremy Menez (RAM/RF), who has the ability to play equally well with both feet. Although Nene played really well in the 2011-12 season, he is no Ibrahimovic and hence, it will be Zlatan who will start up-front. On the bench will still be plenty of options for Ancelotti in the form of Nene, Neeskens Kebano, Thiago Motta, Alex, Verratti, Gameiro and many more.

This PSG squad is very attack-minded and if they manage to play with fluidity and grace, it might be very difficult, even for some of the best teams in Europe, to stop them. Although, with a newly revamped team, it does take time for the team to develop that level of understanding that makes a team champions. But if Carlo Ancelotti manages to create that kind of solidarity in their team, PSG might become a force to reckon with not only in France and Europe, but also in the world soon enough.