Paradoxically, PSG is approaching the Istanbul meeting with a status behind the expectations aroused by its transfer window of superstars, which propelled it among the big favorites of the competition.
The club of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé only appears in the second hat, the first being reserved for the winners of the national and continental championships.
LiveMonaco gloomy over Shakhtar, fail to see Champions League
The mixed results of the 2020-21 season, concluded in 2nd place in Ligue 1, caught up with Parisians who, this year, have promised not to leave any title to others.
But they may have to go through an entry cador, like Chelsea, defending champion, or Manchester City, who eliminated them in the C1 semi-final last season.
Reunion with Bayern?
A not very generous hand can also designate Bayern Munich, its striker in the final of the 2020 edition, against which PSG took a brilliant revenge last spring, in the quarterfinals.
But in the capital, the club swears by itself to conquer a first Champions League, which its Qatari owner dreams of.
"
This is our objective, we do not hide it
", repeated President Nasser Al-Khelaïfi in August.
The recruitment this summer of Messi, Sergio Ramos, Georginio Wijnaldum, Achraf Hakimi and Gianluigi Donnarumma has given PSG a strike force unmatched in its history.
To reach the final in St. Petersburg, “
the big names in the workforce will have to form a team on the pitch,
” coach Mauricio Pochettino said.
In addition to the collective, the recipe for success must also include “
a little luck.
We can have the best team in the world and not win,
”said Messi, four times winner of the C1 with Barça.
Lille in the first hat
The draw will smile in Paris if it falls, as an opponent of the first hat, on Sporting Portugal or Villarreal, less used to this level of competition.
Even if he avoids FC Porto, RB Leipzig or AC Milan, scarecrows from pots 3 and 4.
Lille tackles its reunion with the C1 as champion of France, two years after leaving it with its head bowed, without the slightest success in its group.
But his status does not protect him from a hen raised, especially as hat 2 is swarming with former competition winners: Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester United, Juventus, Dortmund.
Monaco will not play the group stage, eliminated Wednesday evening on the ground of Shakhtar Donetsk, in extra time, after a more than cruel draw (2-2) and because of a decisive defeat in the first leg in Monaco (1- 0).
Shakhtar will be in hat 3, like RB Salzburg, who knocked out Brondby.
And Sheriff Tiraspol, Moldovan club, will play the role of Petit Poucet, in the fourth hat.
Monaco will therefore play the Europa League, alongside Marseille and Lyon, and perhaps Rennes, if the Bretons get out of their dam Thursday night.
All will know their opponents on Friday.