Champions League: The ‘New Money’ Clash Means All Eyes Are On The Prize!

Paris Saint-Germain vs Manchester City

It is the Champions League tie which will delight and despair football fans in equal measure.

If you are in the former camp, you will relish seeing the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Angel di Maria, Kevin de Bruyne, Raheem Sterling et al going toe-to-toe to claim a place in the Europe’s showpiece occasion.

If you are in the latter camp, you will point to the fact both clubs have more wealth than anyone else in professional sport and that it is these two gulf rivals who are now fuelling football – determining the force of money in the modern game.

Whatever your stance, the similarities are breathtakingly similar.

Two clubs owned by two states who have denied allegations about their human rights records, yet nobody really seems to mind about the accusations, perhaps because the royals spent a lot of money improving the infrastructure and buying lots of very talented footballers.

As for me, I’m here to talk about the football and this semi-final has the hallmarks to deliver plenty of Champions League highlights.

Talking Points

Fresh from a fourth consecutive League Cup success, Manchester City seem in rude health.

De Bruyne played the majority of that final victory over Spurs and will be available again, while John Stones’ suspension is domestic so he could slot in for matchwinner Aymeric Laporte at the back.

Goalkeeper Ederson is set to return and the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Bernardo Silva and Rodri will be pushing for minutes after being subs at Wembley on Sunday.

For Paris St Germain, the main concern surrounds Mbappe who limped out of their Ligue 1 win over Metz on Saturday night, although coach Mauricio Pochettino insists he is ‘not worried’ about the World Cup winner’s fitness.

Champions League: Kylian Mbappe was substituted in Paris Saint-Germain's 1-3 away win vs Metz — Kylian Mbappe receiving treatment during Paris Saint-Germain’s match against Metz

The mere mention of the Argentine’s name evokes memories for me of a classic meeting with counterpart Pep Guardiola in this competition two years ago.

It was a match I had the privilege of covering and is the most dramatic I have penned on these pages.

If you can’t recall, take a moment to remind yourself at how simply stratospheric it was on a night when words could barely do the occasion justice!

This could, albeit without supporters, be just as thrilling.

PSG knocked out holders Bayern Munich on away goals in another thrilling tie in the last round and are desperate to go one better than last season.

City are also desperate for Euro glory, even though Guardiola acknowledged this week that the main prize for his side is the Premier League which they are on the verge of clinching for a third time in four seasons.

However, given their respective outlays over the past, all those associated with both clubs know full well that they have underachieved in Europe over the past decade.

This is the time to put that right. Certainly, the winners will be favourites to finally lift the Euro crown in Turkey on May 29.

History

It’s fair to say there should be little surprise that these clubs had not met until 13 years ago – the year of the Sheikh Mansour takeover which has since transformed the club.

A few months after that they met in a UEFA Cup group match, the tie ending goalless in Manchester.

When Qatar Sports Investments completed their takeover of Paris St Germain three years later, both clubs were quickly on their way to becoming established at the top tier of European football.

They subsequently met in the 2016 Champions League quarter-finals.

On that occasion, the sides drew 2-2 in France with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Adrien Rabiot on target for PSG and Kevin de Bruyne and Fernandinho finding the net for City.

A de Bruyne goal won the second leg to earn City a 3-2 aggregate win and a place in the semi-final (for the first and only time until now) where they were beaten by eventual winners Real Madrid.