PSG draw Monaco in Champions League play-offs

PSG today have been drawn to play against fellow Ligue 1 side AS Monaco in the Play-offs of the UEFA Champions League. PSG were hoping to avoid this step, and were in contention to do so until Wednesday’s disappointing draw at home to Eddie Howe’s Newcastle. PSG will play the first leg away from home on the 17th of February, and then will have the reverse fixture at the Parc des Princes a week later.

PSG set for new Champions League Play-offs clash against Ligue 1 team

It’s a strangely similar situation to last season for the Parisians, who then too had to go through the Round of 32, and then too had to play a French side at that stage – although then it was surprise qualifiers Brest, who the Parisians duly thrashed 10-0 on aggregate. It’s expected that Monaco, who have already beaten PSG in the French top flight this season, will provide a sterner challenge.

Were PSG to beat Monaco, they would then either face Chelsea or Barcelona in the next round, both of whom would be formidable adversaries and would provide strong tests: Chelsea, of course, having beaten PSG in the Club World Cup final last summer, and Barca being one of the teams that most sides will want to avoid, given the devastating attacking weapons at their disposal. Either way, the road to retaining the Champions League looks to be a bumpy one for the Parisians, who once again seemed well short of their best in Wednesday’s encounter.

There was a feeling beforehand in the French camp that Wednesday night would provide the sort of dominant attacking display that the Parisians had been so used to seeing in Europe over the last twelve months, but in fact, despite a fast start that saw Ousmane Dembélé have a penalty saved seconds before Vitinha stroked home an opener, it was another example of PSG’s attack misfiring: with neither Dembélé nor his fellow attackers ever truly kicking into hear and putting Newcastle to the sword.

PSG still look like a devastating side at times on the ball, but too often this season they have been characterized by a deep inefficiency in front of goal, and their wastefulness almost proved even more costly against the Magpies, whose winger Harvey Barnes missed a late sitter that would have proven costly for the French champions.

At this point of PSG’s season, they will have to remember the situation they were in exactly one year ago when, then too, they had barely scrapped through into the qualifying round, and only started really kicking into gear in the knockouts. PSG will hope to recreate that second half of the season comeback, but will be apprehensive even about the Monaco game: The Monégasques, despite mixed recent form, have already beaten Enrique’s side this season, and looked fairly comfortable doing so.

In any case, PSG will have the advantage of playing the second leg of the tie at home, which could prove to be crucial. For Monaco, it’s only a third Champions League knockout qualification in ten years, with their semi final run in 2017 (spearheaded by future PSG legend Kylian Mbappé) still their best performance in the competition.