Champions League: "Paris can win but it should not be said", believes Giuly

The former Parisian striker between 2008 and 2011 knows the Champions League perfectly. He was the captain of the only French team to have won a semi-final since Marseille in 1993. It was in 2004, with Monaco, which lost in the final against José Mourinho's Porto. Giuly then won the event with Barcelona in 2006. For him, the scenario of qualifying against Atalanta Bergamo can serve the ambitions of PSG.

The way in which Paris snatched its place for the semi-finals can it be useful for the rest?

LUDOVIC GIULY. Yes. It's something that will bring the group together even more. It reminds me of our epic with Monaco in 2004. We felt that nothing could fall on us. But we didn't have any experienced player apart from Morientes. PSG have plenty. When you go through this scenario, you tell yourself that it's your year and that nothing can happen to you. It shows you that you are right to never give up. Obviously, the Parisian team was united before the match. It is still the base. But there is something more irrational that is happening that gives you strength.

That is to say ?

In recent years, we have heard that something always happens to this club. Being eliminated in stoppage time in Barcelona and then by Manchester United, that left traces. We said: "Yes, but it's always like that with this club". It wasn't a curse, but you could ask yourself questions. There it is the opposite. You tell yourself that the wheel has finally turned and that it's the others who cry at the end.

Is it a good year for Paris?

The danger is to believe it too much. Afterwards, if we are honest, we can think that everything is successful for him. The formula on a single match is perfect for PSG as for Lyon, moreover, which should not be forgotten. Paris sometimes has trouble calculating or managing over two games. On one, she lets go better. And the raffle is more than affordable. But beware of excess.

Which ?

Believe precisely that it is already written and that all will be well. If the players think that fate has chosen them, it will be complicated. For me, the real lesson is that the team is right to never give up. Not that she's already won.

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Is the team the favorite for the semi-final?

Paris will recover Di Maria, Mbappé has been managed very well by Tuchel and Neymar is thoroughly. But beware of this favorite story anyway: before the match, everyone said that Atalanta was largely affordable. In the 90th, the Italians were leading. At the time of a Champions League semi-final, I never saw square footage (smiles) ! Nothing is won. It is very French to dream too quickly. Monaco in 2017 arrived in the semi-finals and everyone seems to have forgotten about it. For the moment, there is no exploit yet. Let’s calm down. After if I have to be frank ...

Go for it…

But of course PSG has plenty of means to go to the final. Paris can win but it should not be said. Afterwards, if I take a step back, I have the impression that the red carpet has already been rolled out for Paris. There is only one more step to walk on. And in the event of a final, anything, absolutely anything, can happen.