Coach of Chartres (N2) since the summer of 2020, Jean-Pierre Papin, 57, remains a privileged observer of international football.
Also a consultant on BeIN Sports, he agreed to dissect the forces involved before the draw for the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
For the salt of the competition, the former winner of the C1 with AC Milan (1994) dreams of seeing Paris cross paths with Chelsea and his former coach Thomas Tuchel.
What is your view on the forces present before the draw for the quarter-finals of the Champions League?
JEAN-PIERRE PAPIN.
It is a very pretty tray.
The only real surprise is the presence of Porto, who eliminated Juventus.
To a lesser degree, there is also Chelsea who recovered and took out Atlético de Madrid.
But overall, the plateau makes sense.
Every year it's more or less the same thing, we find a lot of big European cars at this stage.
Which team to take for PSG?
Porto!
This is the team that everyone hopes to inherit.
But when I see the game they faced Juve, I tell myself that they are not there by chance.
It's tough.
In the end, it may also be a trap to take Porto: you think it's a good draw, that you are going to pass and you lower your level of vigilance ... In reality, almost everyone is equal.
We have all the gratin of European football, there are no good customers.
The only advantage is playing the second leg at home.
And again, without an audience, today it no longer rhymes with anything.
There are still teams to avoid, right?
Bayern Munich and Manchester City are two ogres.
They are above the rest.
Playing them in two-way matches is complicated.
The rest, however, is doable.
Paris is on an equal footing with all the others.
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Would it be tasty or dangerous for PSG to find the Chelsea of Thomas Tuchel and Thiago Silva?
I would love to see a PSG-Chelsea.
I'm sure Thomas Tuchel dreams of it too.
For me, it was unfair to fire him.
Compared to what he had brought to this team, the results he obtained, the trouble he had with the injuries and absences… Tuchel did not deserve that!
And then I like when a coach meets his old team.
I would find it great for football and for the spice it would give to the quarter-finals.
Where is Paris today in the European top 8?
When you win 4-1 in Barcelona, it's because you deserve to be there.
Afterwards, as much I loved the performance of PSG in the first leg, it delighted me, as much as I asked myself a lot of questions on the return.
How can you outsmart this?
There, PSG will no longer be able to thwart, it will have to be good on both matches.
But I want to believe that when we release this type of match at Camp Nou, we can do it again.
Especially when you do this without Neymar!
All in all, PSG is for me one of the best in Europe.
The problem is, when two or three players are missing, it's not the same.
The level of play is still very fluctuating for a European quarter-finalist ...
PSG worries a little.
I found it more organized when there was Thomas Tuchel.
With the arrival of Mauricio
(Editor's note: Pochettino)
, they were forced to play differently, that's a problem.
With Tuchel, Paris had more possession, made fewer long races.
The Pochettino method is very good, but it is necessarily easier to set up and assimilate at the start of the season.
It strengthens me in the idea that PSG will need its stars.
Regardless of the opponent in fact, it will especially be necessary that everyone is on the bridge.
Finalist of the last edition, should Paris be considered the number 2 seed this season?
I think Paris is a little weaker today than last season.
This year, they are getting hooked all over the place.
The extent of the success (3-0) Wednesday against Lille in the Cup for example is flattering.
Navas takes a penalty, is saved by his cross, Lille has 7 or 8 occasions… that did not happen before in Paris.
Sometimes it's good to be tough, it forces them to surpass themselves.
Paris is less scary than last year.
But that doesn't mean he's taken as a joke.
