What should be a formality in the minds of most football observers and fans is, ultimately, not that obvious.
By winning 3-1 against Nice in the quarter-final of the Coupe de France this Wednesday, PSG ensured a competitive spring and will experience a full end to the season, since it is still involved in all the possible competitions.
In addition to its Coupe de France semi-final, which it will play against Rennes on April 3 at the Parc des Princes, the capital club will know its opponent for the quarter-finals of the Ligue des Princes this Friday, March 15. champions (9-10 and 16-17 April) and is comfortably installed in the title race in Ligue 1 (1st, with 9 points ahead of Brest).
With the ups and downs that PSG has experienced in its history, in the Champions League in particular, this scenario has not been repeated so often during the QSI era (since the 2011-12 season).
Paris at least in the quarterfinals of all its competitions, “only” 6 times out of 13 seasons
The last time that Paris was at least in the quarter-finals of all competitions was in 2020-21: 2nd in Ligue 1 that season (behind Lille), Paris had won the Coupe de France and reached the semi-finals. Champions League finals.
Same scenario, only better, the previous season.
That year, PSG almost achieved the quintuple: champion of France, winner of the Coupe de France and the last edition of the Coupe de la Ligue, winner of the Champions Trophy and finalist of the Champions League.
Also read: Beraldo surprises, Ramos disappoints, the ratings of Parisian players
In 2018-19, 2017-18 and 2016-17, PSG stopped in the round of 16 of the Champions League, in inglorious circumstances.
The two previous seasons (2014-15 and 2015-16), it was already better, with the national quadruple and two C1 quarter-finals.
Before that, there was a surprise elimination in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France (against Montpellier).
In 2012-13, PSG was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Coupe de France, the Coupe de la Ligue and the Champions League and the previous season, the first under QSI, was completely blank: 2nd in Ligue 1, 1/4 of the Coupe de France, 1/8 of the Coupe de la Ligue and exited in the group stage of the Europa League.
In total, out of twelve seasons since the takeover of the club by the Qataris, only five have seen PSG reach at least the quarter-finals of all the competitions in which it has been involved.
This year, that makes 6 out of 13.