Dortmund and Paris – Thomas Tuchel and Paris St. Germain are under pressure before the return match against BVB. For the ex-Dortmund coach, the match is a kind of job final.
Paris St. Germain has started preparing for the second leg of the round of sixteen in the Champions League against BVB with great concern (Champions League: Paris Saint-Germain – Borussia Dortmund, Wed. from 9 p.m.).
Superstar Kylian Mbappe was also absent on duty this morning due to a sore throat in the final training session, driving worry lines on Thomas Tuchel’s forehead: “We are trying to get him fit to play. A decision will not be made until Wednesday evening,” said the PSG coach.
The 21-year-old world champion’s game is on the line against BVB, at least the test for the corona virus on Tuesday was negative. But that’s not all: Thomas Meunier, who continues to be courted by BVB, and Marco Verratti are missing yellow-locked. Head of defence Thiago Silva recently returned from a thigh injury and, according to Tuchel, will at least “be part of the squad”.
All this makes the task even more difficult for Tuchel than it already is. According to French media reports, the German is facing a job final. The largest Parisian newspaper Le Parisien writes that the work of the German tactician will be closely scrutinized by the PSG leaders on Wednesday. “His future depends on this game,” the medium writes. “If PSG fails on Wednesday, it will almost certainly be at the end of the season,” writes the sports magazine L’Équipe again.
PSG threatened with next round of 16
Tuchel is under enormous pressure before the return match against his former club (2015 to 2017). The ex-Mainzer has been coaching in Paris since 2018 and won the championship last year with the star ensemble. This year, Tuchel will be hard to take away the league title again, and he will also be in the cup final with the Sheikh Club – but the owners from Qatar around President Nasser Al-Khelaifi are not satisfied with that. What they want: Success in the glittering “royal league”.
PSG is celebrating its 50th anniversary in August – and another elimination from the round of 16 would be a disgrace. Three times the Sheikh-club was last out in the first knockout round: Barca 2017 (6-1 after 4-0 in the first leg), Real 2018 (3-1 and 2-1), Manchester United 2019 (3-1 after 2-0 in the first leg) – and again PSG has its back to the wall after the 2-1 defeat in Dortmund.