Reims-PSG: first semi-final and first turning point of the season

It's the return of matches that count and turning points. Here is the first rocking moment of the season and January is not even over. There is still no vertigo except that of a possible elimination at the stage of the semi-finals of the Coupe de la Ligue, the last edition of a competition which saw Paris first register its name on the charts, in 1995.

PSG is entering its guillotine period and the idea is to keep a cool head as much as on the shoulders, as long as possible. This Wednesday evening, the equation is simple. Or Paris wins its ticket for the final of the Stade de France, April 4. Or he creates problems, a form of crisis, less than a month from the first absolute summit of 2020, his appointment in Dortmund in the round of 16 of the Champions League on February 18. “Reims is very strong defensively. It's difficult to create opportunities against them. We will analyze and try to show our qualities. You will have to be patient. We lost twice against them but we are ready. We absolutely want to play this final, ”says Thomas Tuchel.

Reims beat Paris twice in five months

The German knows what he is talking about. He is the first of the last three PSG coaches to have won neither the Coupe de la Ligue nor the Coupe de France. He wants this to change and probably his leaders with him. In season 2, T uchel remains under surveillance, after a failed first year, for one reason only, that of champion of France, even if the European fiasco has buried domestic setbacks. In order to maintain the momentum - Paris remains on thirteen victories and two draws for two and a half months - and arrive serenely towards Dortmund, Neymar's partners have only one possible path.

They know it, it is that which brings back to the stadium of France where they gleaned most of the nine national Cups won since 2014. Will we have to be strong? It is the PSG which decides in France and it will only have to fight against its demons of 2019 to restore a return to normalcy. In short, if the club of the capital is itself, at its supposed level, carried by its infernal individuals, Reims has little chance of passing, even if it fell twice the PSG between May and September 2019, both times in L 1 (3-1 and 0-2).

The first was on the last day and Paris was already on vacation; the second offered an evening of turnover. This time, and with some management elements (Icardi? Di Maria?), The best will be there, starting with Mbappé and Neymar. They like to say that their team has changed this season. The metamorphosis begins in Champagne.