The Park of the Princes

When PSG was founded in 1970, Madrid had already won six European Cups, an Intercontinental, fourteen leagues and eleven cups. No one better represents the essence of great football compared to neo-football, sustained with money from outside the industry or directly contributed by states in need of international projection. PSG is the flag of that new order that is coming but it hasn’t arrived yet.

The PSG was acquired in 2011 by the emir of Qatar, Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, and became a shadow foreign ministry in the country, the one with the highest per capita income in the world. Paris was the perfect showcase: the most charming city in the world and, at the same time, the only major capital in Europe, along with Rome, that had never won a European Cup. Since then, the club has spent 1,350 million in signings, He has enjoyed the best coaches in the world (Ancelotti, Blanc, Emery, Tuchel and Pochettino), the most decisive footballers (Neymar, Messi, Mbappé) and the wide sleeve of UEFA with his dribbling at financial fair play without achieving the cup “most beautiful and desired”. In that period, Madrid added four.

In a way, the tie that begins today in the Parc des Princes is just that, the clash between a centenary football, with a natural expansion, and another that has brought more luxury than charm. And in the center of the scene, Mbappé, perhaps already the best footballer in the world, about to move in the opposite direction to the general trend. Madrid will not pay him as much as PSG has unsuccessfully offered him, but he has managed to sell him his legend.

In suspense for two stars

The duel is marked by uncertainty about two players: Benzema and Neymar. Madrid loses more if the Frenchman does not play. The footballer and Ancelotti will decide at the very end if they decide to take risks, and if they do, for how long. Benzema suffered a muscle injury on January 23 and did not train with his teammates until yesterday. In times of Cristiano and the best Bale, his line-up would not have even been considered, but now it is half of Madrid: 24 goals, nine assists and an undisputed leadership in the squad. Yesterday he appeared before the press, a fact that sounded like a declaration of intent, but the final decision was kept to himself. In games like this, information is a weapon.

on the other shore is Neymar . He scored 28 goals in his first year and his curve has been downward (23-19-17-3). Now 30 years old, his candidacy for a Ballon d’Or seems outdated. He has not played since November due to a severe ankle sprain and his first training session with the group was last Thursday. In its alignment there is more risk of error than of relapse. If Pochettino decides, Madrid would face the most luxurious attack in a decade, Neymar-Messi-Mbappé, who has only started nine times. And with them came two of the four defeats of the course. Actually, only Mbappé, 21 goals already, is at his level. Messi, who suffered physical problems and passed the coronavirus, has only done seven. At Barça he signed more than 40 ten times, although he stayed at 31 and 38 the last two. He has not scored a goal against Madrid since May 2018. At 34, he may be facing his last chance to win a Champions League again and that, in a player of his size, makes him especially dangerous.

Vinicius vs Achraf

The trident, in any case, also has its dark side. They are not useful footballers when their team does not have the ball and that is why Madrid can take advantage of it. Around there and on the left wing, where Vinicius, the other prince of the Parc des Princes, will meet Achraf, an end disguised as a side that often leaves the door open. In January he missed four games because of his presence in the African Cup. PSG is a team of violinists, the one with the most dribbles in the competition (100), but only Vinicius has scored 41. On Friday, against Rennes, whom he won in added time, he only kept three starters: Nuno Mendes , Danilo Pereira and Di Maria. All three will be here today if Neymar doesn’t finally play.

Ancelotti, at the expense of Benzema (Bale would once again be his substitute), arrives at the game with his gala team (Asensio seems fixed in the last place left to be assigned) and better records than PSG in this Champions League. In shots he almost doubled the French team, although he only managed to score one more goal. He calls attention to the fact that it is the team that has scored the most goals from outside the box (five) and has not scored a single header. In addition, Ancelotti recovers Mendy, a crucial player to tie up Mbappé or Di María. Who will be missing will be Ramos, who one day was a Madrid flag and today suffers an ordeal of injuries in Paris. The morbidity is postponed until the return.