Giants return to Europe

In the Champions League, which, due to the World Cup in Qatar, experienced a long pause of three and a half months, the play-off stage starts today. And on the very first of the days allotted for the matches of the 1/8 finals, a classic confrontation will take place: PSG, which finds itself in a personnel and game crisis, will play with Bayern, which has got out of its mini-crisis.

The central note on the website of the French L`Equipe a day before the first match of the 1/8 finals of the Champions League, in which PSG will host Bayern, was, of course, devoted to the participation in the training of the French club Kylian Mbappé. Mbappe was injured two weeks ago, and even last weekend it seemed that he had no chance to speak against Munich. Even PSG coach Christophe Galtier warned that, in his opinion, Mbappe would be ready for the second leg at best. But then a ray of light appeared in the window. Although it is still not so often the health of even such players attracts such close attention.

However, in this case, everything is clear. Those worried about PSG are looking for something to hold on to in search of hope in a situation where there are exceptionally few leads.

The fact is that PSG is going through some strange period. The championship of France, after a break associated with the Qatari world championship, resumed before the New Year. And in the past month and a half, the game and the results of the Parisians did not at all correspond to their status. First, there were misfires in January – losses to Lance and Rennes, a draw with Reims, and just before the play-offs of the Champions League, a new batch of troubles arrived. Some of them are injuries to leading players. In addition to Kylian Mbappe, they were also received by Marco Verratti, and, most importantly, Lionel Messi, who, however, unlike Mbappe, was not so seriously injured as to consider his recovery for the home match against Bayern something miraculous. The other part is regular breakdowns. Last week, PSG lost in the French Cup to Marseille, and then, already in the national championship, to Monaco. Terrible figures, especially considering that they more or less accurately correspond to the quality of football that the Parisians show after the restart. And he has a lot of complaints. All the key defenders – Marquinhos, Sergio Ramos, Presnel Kimpembe – are clearly not in good shape, the attacking group is weakened by the sores of the leaders and rarely sparks. And the fact that, despite the decline, PSG is still more or less confident in the lead in its championship is a consequence of the low level of competition in the tournament: none of the most powerful opponents is stable either.

Bayern’s vector of movement points in a completely different direction. She also had her own crisis – well, or rather, a mini-crisis. In Germany, football after the winter break returned later than in other leagues of the “big five” – ​​in the second half of January, and after the restart, Munich tied three times in a row, allowing a whole group of pursuers led by Union to come close to them. And at the same time, the list of injured club players has grown to a fairly decent size. It includes Ryan Gravenberh, and Nussair Mazraoui, and Luca Hernandez, and Sadio Mane. And instead of goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who broke his leg on vacation, I even had to urgently take Jan Sommer from Borussia Mönchengladbach.

But now everything seems to be back to normal. In the previous two matches of the German championship, Bayern cracked down – 4:2 and 3:0 – with Wolfsburg and Bochum, and the game of its attack was such that everyone who loves PSG and who is aware that the defense he is by no means in perfect order in winter, they must have experienced real horror. Good in every sense – in terms of “physics”, mutual understanding with partners – were Jamal Musiala with Serge Gnabry, and Thomas Muller with Kingsley Coman.

Another match of the 1/8 finals, which will be held on the same day, has a more modest sign, no matter how you look at it. Formally, in a meeting in which Milan hosts Tottenham, we are talking about a confrontation between teams that are approximately equal in status. They even occupy the same – fifth – position in their championships. But the rivals’ current form is too different not to see the unconditional favorite in the guy.

Tottenham Hotspur lost 1-4 to Leicester on Saturday, but this defeat still does not quite fit into the trend. Londoners continue to play well in winter, in their own interesting – with an emphasis not on possession of the ball, but on its selection and rapidly unfolding attacks – football, which, due to its origin and background, coach Antonio Conte, who knows Italian football very well, has set for them. And it is unlikely that the loss of Rodrigo Bentancur, who has torn the cruciate ligament, for all its soreness, will break this clarity.

But something terrible is happening with Milan. In the last round of the Italian championship, he somehow – 1:0 – defeated Torino. And this success was the first for him after a series of three consecutive losses and five matches without victories, suggesting that the club suddenly sank catastrophically after the winter break.

Alexey Dospekhov