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Blanc plays down hopes as PSG cruise into last 16

French league leaders PSG cruised into the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-1 win over Olympiakos on Wednesday. The question now is exactly how far can Laurent Blanc's side go in the competiton?

Published: 28 November 2013 08:30 CET

Blanc plays down hopes as PSG cruise into last 16

PSG players celebrate their win over Olympiakos, which saw them into the last 16 of the Champions League. Photo: Franck Fife/AFP

Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc sought to downplay his side's Champions League prospects after they qualified for the last 16 by beating Olympiakos on Wednesday.

PSG only needed a draw to secure top spot in the section and Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave them a dream start, opening the scoring inside seven minutes.

The sending-off of Marco Verratti early in the second half left the hosts down to 10 men, and Olympiakos profited from their man advantage to draw level through Kostas Manolas with nine minutes remaining.

However, Edinson Cavani's 90th-minute strike handed PSG the win as they progress while Olympiakos are left to fight it out with Benfica for the second qualifying berth in the last round of games after the Portuguese outfit won 3-2 at Anderlecht.

The big-spending Ligue 1 leaders are now unbeaten in 35 games in all competitions and remain on course to at least match last season's run to the quarter-finals, when they lost to Barcelona on away goals.

"The first thing we must do is aim to finish first in our group, and we have done that, so we are very satisfied," said Blanc, who has remarkably not lost since replacing Carlo Ancelotti in the Paris dugout in the summer.

"But you know the Champions League is a very difficult competition to win. There are other clubs out there who can say with greater legitimacy than us that they can win it, that's for sure.

"I think we also need to wait and see who we might face when the draw is made. If you get the right draw, it gives you more of a chance of going through than if you a big name. I don't know who, but maybe a Catalan team for example," he added, although Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid – who have both won their groups – are the only two teams PSG are certain to avoid in next month's draw.

"Finishing first was a really important objective for us. We are ambitious, we want to go as far as possible, but we must go one step at a time. The next step is to see which teams are also through, who finishes second in the other groups, and then hopefully we can get a kind draw."

Blanc was pleased with his side's display against Olympiakos, in particular their strength in adversity as they recovered from Verratti's red card and Manolas's equaliser – which was allowed to stand despite Chori Dominguez being in an offside position in the build-up – to triumph for the fourth time in five Group C matches.

Verratti has had disciplinary problems ever since arriving at PSG last year, and Blanc's predecessor Ancelotti accused the young Italian of picking up too many stupid cautions. However, Blanc felt that the sending-off was
harsh.

"He deserved his first yellow card for handball. That was stupid, although it broke up an attack so it helped the team.

"You know how many fouls Marco Verratti committed? Two. I am not defending him but these are things that happen in a game and, with his reputation, he paid the price.

"The solidarity and desire shown by the players with 10 men, to keep pushing forward and win the game rather than just sitting back, is a quality that great teams must have. Sometimes, things can go against you in games,
like tonight, and we need to be able to call on that mental strength."

PSG, who are four points clear in Ligue 1 before playing Lyon on Sunday, will go to Benfica next month with the pressure off, but the battle for second place in Group C will go to the wire.

Olympiakos and Benfica are level on seven points apiece, and the Greeks will go through with a win at home to Anderlecht in their last game, but anything less will allow the Portuguese side in.

They would have been pleased to hear Blanc say that he would field a strong side in that final match, and the Greek club's coach Michel believes his side deserve to advance.

"Olympiakos are capable of playing in the same manner wherever we go," said the former Real Madrid player. "This is a positive thing. The essential thing is that we put in a great effort tonight and we deserve to go through.

That is what we need to have in mind when we face Anderlecht."

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OPINION: Why Bayern Munich are staking their claim for Champions League glory

Could Bayern Munich win the 2019 Champions League? Photo: DPA

Flying wingers, clinical finishers and no-nonsense defending. That is the Bayern way.

As Serge Gnabry had his back towards goal in the 87th minute, a quick shuffle of the body and a hammer of a swing from his right foot set the tone for the headlines. Bayern Munich has just put seven past Tottenham in their own backyard.

In recent years, Europe have started questioning if Bayern are still a powerhouse. Do teams still fear visiting the Allianz arena, or drawing Bayern in the business end of the UEFA Champions League? Probably not.

Between 2011 and 2016, with legendary wing wizards Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry at their peak, Bayern reached two Champions League finals, winning one, and three semi-finals. A golden era in the club’s history, firmly embodied in the squads they produced and the automatic assumption that they’d reach the last four of Europe’s premier club competition at the bare minimum every year.

Since then, in the three Champions league campaigns that have followed, they’ve managed a round of 16, quarter final and also a semi-final defeat. The signs were clear. The power of Bayern Munich had begun to wane and the rest of Europe had strengthened considerably.

Club president Uli Hoeneß, always a man of such high expectations and optimism, had accepted that change was needed.

So, who are the Bayern Munich team going into the pivotal Christmas break?

The defence: Reliable yet rugged

The combined €120 million signings of French World Cup winning defenders Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez, both still at such tender age of 23, represented a real signal of intent from Hoeneß and club manager Niko Kovač in a bid to rejuvenate an aging back line.

Thus far, those signings in conjunction with the previous capture of Niklas Sule, has certainly freshened up the backline and from here, their talent and experience will only grow.

Manuel Neuer and David Alaba are the other players who, when fit, make up the rest of the backline and remain two of the strongest players in the world in their respective positions.

The midfield: Commanding but classy

Bayern prefer to play with a flat double pivot, or two defensive midfielders, consisting of Corentin Tolisso and Joshua Kimmich. In them, the Bavarians have found the perfect blend of steel, tenacity and flare.

Tolisso has been under the radar for some time now and he is finally growing into the player many had pictured him to be. Offering brilliant recycling of the ball when Bayern are in possession and an ever-combative presence to screen the defence when they aren’t.

Joshua Kimmich’s talent has been heralded since he broke into Bayern’s team four seasons ago. As Philipp Lahm, perhaps Germany’s greatest ever right back, retired, in stepped a young Kimmich. He boasts extremely similar qualities to that of Lahm and this is now epitomised by Niko Kovač’s decision to play him in a more central position from time to time.

Lahm is often talked about as having a “total football brain’’. Current Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola once claimed he was the “most intelligent footballer” he’s coached, and if the first few years of Kimmich’s career is anything to go by, come retirement, his name will be up in lights alongside Die Mannschaft’s greats.

Sat in front of both is the €144 million diamond that’s somewhat lost his shine: Philippe Coutinho.

Now, reverted back to the playmaker position which found him so much success in the red of Liverpool, the twinkle toed Brazilian is once more splitting open banks of defences with ease and using his 100-page book of tricks and skills, which has audiences applauding his brilliance again.

Coutinho has got his mojo back and rest assured, the needle eyed passes, silky touches, intricate dribbles and thirty-yard thunderbolts have returned with it.

If either of those three do have an off day, Kovač need not worry. Queue the samba, and in steps Thiago Alcantara. He’s sometimes criticised for his lack of consistency but he is undoubtedly one of the world’s top five midfielders on a good day.

With technical guise in abundance, he combines Brazilian flare with Spanish authority, representative of his dual nationality.

In much the same manner as Paul Pogba, Thiago plays football with a hint of swagger about his step and with a wide range of flicks and feints up his sleeve. His ability to drop a man and float the perfect 30-yard pass is uncanny.

This goes without saying then, that when his team plays well, he is usually at the forefront of it. With the sparkling form that Bayern are currently operating at, Thiago will only go from red to hot.

The forwards: Ruthless and clinical

Then there’s Serge Gnabry. Is there anyone right now in world football oozing confidence quite like Arsenal’s former academy graduate? Four goals against Tottenham Hotspur signals not just a seasonal achievement, but a historic one.

On the counter, few players possess the devastatingly direct dribbling that Gnabry does, and to top that off, he has no troubles going all the way and finishing the move all by himself. He’s no stranger to scoring goals and assisting teammates but this season he’s taken his game to a whole new level.

With 12 goals and 4 assists in 20 appearances this season and an average ‘whoscored’ rating of 7.26 per game, Gnabry has started clicking into fifth gear, and come the end of the season, you can bet he’ll be operating in sixth.

Kingsley Coman has won fifteen trophies at the unbelievable age of 23. Those medals are headlined by seven league titles in each of the last seven years. It’s simple, wherever Kingsley goes, he wins.

He’s not just been a bystander in these campaigns either, he’s far from a player like Manchester United’s former player Anderson. Coman has an unbelievable ability to sprint away on the counter and hug the touchline for the duration of a match, constantly challenging fullbacks and getting balls into the box.

Although he isn’t quite at the level of someone like Leroy Sane, Coman has his own set of attributes which compliment tall, powerful runners into the box well. As we know, Bayern have those in abundance.

Finally, bringing me onto a certain Robert Lewandowski. The Polish hitman needs no introduction and embodies the perfect number nine to cap off the ten fine players that are scheming behind him.

Since the turn of the decade, ‘Lewy’ has scored over 300 goals. There’s only two players in the world who’ve ousted that figure, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Currently, he’s sitting on top of the European scoring charts and in the same vain as Zlatan Ibrahimović, his game only seems to improve with age.

The bench: Experience is key

Bayern also have a wealth of talent and experience keeping their bench warm. Thomas Müller’s powers have started to dwindle, but he isn’t a half bad goal scorer to bring into the fray when you need a goal or two.

Javi Martinez has proven his consistency as a destroyer of the highest order over the last decade, and proves that Bayern have yet another Mr Dependable waiting to be called upon when the situation or match requires.

It almost feels inevitable that the marauding runs of Leroy Sane, be it in January or next summer, will be brought in. Sane would be the final piece to the puzzle and it would mean Bayern’s front 6 go toe to toe with any team Europe can conjure up.

The verdict: Is this the year for 6 Champions League Titles?

There are teams with slightly stronger 11s, perhaps Juventus and Barcelona. But no team has gelled together quite like Bayern, and as we’ve seen before in the Champions League, the strongest teams aren’t always the winners.

Nico Kovač has required a settling period, like most managers would when taking the reins at a club with the stature of Bayern Munich.

You get the feeling, however, that his ideas are now starting to embed themselves and his tactics are being deployed to suit his players strengths (as opposed to players having to completely accept his tactics), which is how it should be.

After all, you can only work with what you’ve got.

International Success for Germany?

The general thought is that if Bayern do well, so does the German national team. The winners of the 2014 World Cup had Bayern DNA heavily incorporated into their tactics and game plans. As did the winners of the 1990, 1974 and 1954 tournaments.

Euro 2020 represents a good assessment for Die Mannschaft’s new school and if Bayern’s German contingent can make significant strides this season, it’s almost an assurance that next year’s Euros, and perhaps even the 2022 World Cup, will be fought tooth and nail between the French and the Germans.

The template upon which this team is formed bares startling similarities with that of the 2013 treble winners. Fast flowing football with ruthless German efficiency: this well and truly could be the year of 6 Champions League titles for Bayern Munich.

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