The Champions League returns in midweek, and this means we are off to Paris.
The European Elite
Can PSG finally get their hands on the prize they covert the most? Their latest quest resumes against Real Sociedad.
That Elusive Prize
For those who are planning on celebrating Valentines Day on Wednesday, you may want to reschedule those plans and with PSG playing host to Real Sociedad in the Champions League Round of 16 you now have the perfect reason why.
The French giants going up against the Spanish upstarts and with Luis Enrique’s men already finding themselves clear in the Ligue 1 distance, they can now realign their focus to finally conquering Europe.
Something that a litany of managers have attempted since the club was snapped up by their current Qatari ownership. Something that the likes of Neymar and Lionel Messi failed to achieve before their moves to Saudi Arabia and the United States respectively.
Something that has now been tasked to Luis Enrique and with the former Barcelona boss having experience of lifting this very trophy in 2015, he will hope that he has not lost his continental touch in the nearly nine years since.
Of course, this PSG side is resembling less like the Harlem Globetrotters these days and even though the pair of Neymar and Messi have left Paris behind, there is still one megastar who is plying his trade in the French capital.
Until the end of the season at the very least and with a continual question surrounding the future of Kylian Mbappe, delivering the Champions League to his current employers may end up being the perfect way for him to bow out.
That is if he and his teammates can clear that hurdle that comes in the size of Real Sociedad and although Imanol Alguacil’s men are not operating at the same domestic levels of 12 months ago, they are not a team you want to meet in Europe.
Especially as they topped a four-team group that contained both Inter Milan and Benfica and although being paired with PSG in the Round of 16 does not feel like a reward in its truest sense, this is not a team that will be shying away from the challenge in front of them.
While it is also an opportunity for manager Alguacil to place himself further in the shop window and with a number of Premier League clubs placing the 52-year-old on the radar, progress to the last eight and beyond may only increase his own personal stock even more.
But now it is time for the first of my two tips and although a home win does not offer the most value, adding Kylian Mbappe as first goalscorer as well certainly does. Place these two bets in a bet-builder and the odds are currently 7/2.
In addition to this, I am looking to the first five minutes of the game and the award of a corner as the first set-piece of the game. Should this come before any other award before 04:59 on the clock, this picks pay out a very tempting 14/1.
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