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#1 A lot riding on this for both sides
PSG, for all their star-studded squad, haven’t come up big at the European stage and have fallen to the traditionally mightier sides of the continent. But this time, they finally look like a side ready to contend for UEFA Champions League honour.
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With a powerful unit that’s perfectly balanced on all fronts and been delivering consistently this term, the Parisians are at full throttle and boast arguably their strongest group of players in the recent memory.
They are no longer the dark horses, but in fact, one of the favourites. PSG wouldn’t get a better shot at European glory than this, and beating two-time defending champions Real Madrid would go a long way in fuelling those aspirations.
That brings us to the flip side of the story. The UEFA Champions League is the peg that Los Blancos have been hanging on to, for their La Liga and Copa del Rey hopes have long evaporated.
Even if they mathematically stand a chance to overhaul Barcelona in the domestic race, it also requires the Blaugrana to dramatically collapse. But even that seems far-fetched, which leaves Europe their only realistic place to find some silverware.
Evidently, the stakes are sky-high, even it’s only the first knock-out round of the competition.
