Soccer News of Monday, 12 June 2023

Source: www.sportsbrief.com

What PSG must learn from Manchester City’s Champions League triumph

Manchester City won the Champions League for the first time thanks to a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in Istanbul.

The Citizens have now beaten Paris Saint-Germain to a long-term goal of capturing Europe’s most prestigious club competition.

Both Man City and PSG outlined winning the Champions League as their ultimate target for the past few seasons, after dominating their respective domestic leagues.

The Citizens have won five of the last six Premier League titles in England, while PSG have only failed to win the Ligue 1 crown twice since 2013.

After a failed final effort in 2021, Man City would finally go on to conquer Europe and be crowned UCL winners for the first time over the weekend.

However, PSG seem to have their house in disarray after another woeful season in the competition.

Sports Brief has outlined where PSG must emulate Manchester City if they intend to one day be crowned Champions League winners.

1. Assemble a balanced squad

PSG has a star-studded squad but one that is not balanced, making the club’s bid to conquer Europe all the more challenging.

The Parisians have spent considerable sums bringing world-class players such as Lionel Messi, Neymar Junior, Kylian Mbappe, and Sergio Ramos into their fold but still needed more in-depth quality.

Pep Guardiola has been praised for his tactical genius in creating a monstrous Man City team, but he would only have achieved that by having quality players all around.

The Citizen’s bench is as good as their first team, as witnessed in the Champions League final when an injured Kevin De Bruyne was replaced by Phil Foden while Kyle Walker was as a subtitute.

With PSG, however, the first team seems to have much of the quality while the bench consists of average players who would only work if given the mantle to lead the team.

2. Stick with a world-class manager

Paris Saint-Germain have witnessed at least seven people come and go as managers of the Ligue 1 giants since 2012 - when the club started the real push to win the Champions League.

Top-rated managers such as Carlo Ancelotti, Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, and Mauricio Pochettino had brief reigns in the French capital but were let go after failing to win the European crown.

According to Goal, PSG’s latest manager, Christophe Galtier has also been shown the door after just one season at the helm, with the club now said to be on the lookout for a new manager.

Man City, meanwhile, has stuck with Guardiola for six seasons despite his previous failure to land the UCL trophy.



3. Turn the fans into supporters

PSG has been plagued with too many distractions from their fanbase this season, with some players - chiefly Messi - getting booed by their supporters.

According to Marca, hundreds of fans showed up with megaphones, flares, and banners at the club headquarters, calling for the Argentine and Neymar to leave.

This has not been the case for past winners of the UEFA Champions League, where their fans have stuck with their respective teams through good and bad times.

With Man City, their fans have been there through the rough patches and supported their team, while the PSG fans always look for scapegoats whenever the team fails to perform.