The draw for the knockout stages of the Champions League dated back to December 14.
However, PSG did not have two months to prepare, but barely five days.
Between February 7 and 10, from Marseille to Caen, Di Maria and Neymar were injured and their absence from Camp Nou in Barcelona was quickly recorded.
All Mauricio Pochettino's plans are turned upside down.
How to win in Catalonia without two of the holders of the offensive line?
The question that will occupy the minds of the staff, the day after Neymar's injury.
“The key is that no one panicked, analyzes a close relative of the group.
The players remained focused and knew that, anyway, we would have to do without Neymar.
For some, the experience of the first leg in Manchester stood out.
They remembered that they also knew how to win without him.
"
Already, the light had come from Marco Verratti, sparkling on Tuesday evening in Barcelona as in February 2019 at Old Trafford.
The Italian's health was the only real question in Pochettino's mind.
But the midfielder worked hard until the day before the match to recover from the blow to the hip suffered at the Vélodrome de Marseille.
His investment before and during the Barcelona meeting paid off.
Even if his body came out bruised from a point to a calf.
Verratti, a tactical novelty
The role of Verratti is the real tactical novelty since the arrival of Pochettino.
The Argentinian asks him two things: presence on the first pressing and permanent movement.
Verratti explodes without a fixed position.
“He's one of the players with whom the staff exchange the most.
We feel that his influence on the game is growing, ”observes an intimate.
The former Tottenham coach is a fan of long individual conversations, often at the end of training.
On Monday at Camp Nou, Kimpembe spent long minutes discussing the upcoming meeting.
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Psychological management, video session, tactics ... Pochettino increased the number of exchanges, without imposing an overly heavy atmosphere, like the discussion with Mbappé, told by Pochettino: “In training, he asked me how many times I had won at Camp Nou.
I once told him.
He replied: tomorrow, we win a second time.
“Until mid-afternoon, the Argentine kept his team composition secret.
Without setting up since the victory against Nice (2-1), Saturday, a suspense remains: Moise Kean or Pablo Sarabia on the right side.
Do not mention the remountada
Having explained to his flock that an intense rhythm was necessary against Barça, Pochettino ended up opting for the energy of the Italian.
With success.
Since the draw, PSG had only one fear: that we talk too much about the "remount".
Instructions are passed internally as well as externally.
Everything is in place to get out of this context of apprehension.
Between them, the players do not evoke this memory but everyone knows that it is time for those who remain (Marquinhos, Kurzawa, Draxler, Verratti, Kimpembe and Di Maria) to take revenge.
"It's in the past, we must move on";
“Today we are better”.
With these sentences spoken internally, all of Paris wanted to move forward four years after the trauma.
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See you now for the return match, on March 10, to finish the job.
"Nobody ignites, we know where we come from and we know where we are going", we conclude in Paris.
