Paris Saint-Germain couldn’t have asked for a better draw in the UEFA Champions League.
On Friday, a far too long ceremony revealed that PSG would play Serie A side Atalanta in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. If they advance past the Italians, they’ll play the winner of RB Leipzig vs. Atlético Madrid for a place in the finals.
The Ligue 1 champions will avoid having to potentially play Real Madrid, Manchester City, Juventus, Barcelona, Chelsea, and FC Bayern Munich until the final.
The way the draw worked out, those teams that have already qualified for the quarter-finals (PSG, Atalanta, Leipzig, and Atlético) were matched up against each other while those who have to finish their Round of 16 ties were drawn together.
Atalanta may not be a traditional European superpower but they can certainly cause PSG issues. On matchday six, they held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw at home and they’ve gone 11 straight Serie A matches without a loss, including wins over Lazio, Roma, and Napoli. On Saturday, they’ll take on Serie A leaders Juventus and that may be a good look for PSG fans to see how good this team is against an elite team.
With the Champions League format changing to single-elimination instead of a two-legged tie, anything can happen. There’s no question that PSG has the more talented squad, but, if they don’t bring the same mentality that they had against Borussia Dortmund last March, Atalanta is more than capable of pulling off the upset.
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