The league phase of the UEFA Champions League is over and now, Paris Saint-Germain prepares for a knockout stage match against Stade Brestois, with either Liverpool FC or FC Barcelona waiting in the round of 16.
While the players shouldn’t be overlooking Brest, fans can certainly look forward to a potential meeting with two of Europe’s best clubs. PSG recently defeated Brest soundly in Ligue 1 action, and it would be one of the biggest upsets of the season according to football odds if Brest knocked them out of the European competition. So, who would PSG match up better against?
First, we have to say that given PSG’s recent form, both Liverpool and Barcelona probably aren’t thrilled with having to play a team like PSG this early. Imagine finishing toward the top of the table in the league phase and your reward is playing an in-form PSG side with Ousmane Dembélé scoring at an incredible rate and Désiré Doué reminding fans of prime Neymar Jr.
When it comes to a potential matchup, my opinion is PSG would match up better against Barcelona. The two sides battled last season in the Champions League, with Barcelona winning at the Parc and PSG returning the favor in the return leg to advance past the Catalan club.
Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, and Lamine Yamal will certainly cause problems for PSG’s attack, but PSG has Willian Pacho now and Lucas Hernández has returned from injury. I don’t think PSG’s defenders can keep two clean sheets against Barcelona, but I think they can minimize the damage at the back.
Barcelona’s defense is their biggest weakness and I think PSG’s quality can exploit that. Dembélé and Bradley Barcola, in particular, I think will find a lot of success against Barcelona. I also think this is a match where João Neves can excel as well. No player does as much on the pitch for PSG as Neves, and I think he will thrive in a match against Barcelona.
Liverpool, I think, presents a lot of challenges for PSG. First, going to Anfield is difficult for any away team, but I think PSG’s youngsters could stumble under that kind of pressure. I also don’t love the matchup of Mohamed Salah running at Nuno Mendes, who is a solid left-back, but prone to mistakes. Liverpool’s defense is stout and will be a problem on set-pieces where PSG struggles. It’s difficult to find a weakness in this Liverpool side and I think they will overwhelm PSG. That’s not to say PSG has no hope, but, they need to play extremely well and maybe get a lucky bounce once or twice.
First, PSG must get past Brest and then the real test of the season comes.
