PSG Are Ahead Of City But Not By Much

 

Laurent Blanc believes Paris St Germain are ahead of Manchester City when it comes to having a European pedigree. The PSG coach does not accept they will be the clear favourites when the teams go head to head on Wednesday in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie in the French capital. Both are owned by Middle East investors and are now two of the most wealthy clubs in world football. 
PSG recently clinched their fourth straight Ligue 1 title with eight games remaining so their focus is now on claiming a maiden Champions League title. City, meanwhile, have won the Premier League title twice since their Abu Dhabi owners took charge of the club in 2008 and Blanc admits the Citizens have a similar history to PSG.

He said: “Manchester City had the same project a bit before Paris St Germain. They managed to win their domestic league, which is not an easy task and some other titles, but maybe in Europe they're a bit behind us. Maybe this shows what Paris St Germain have achieved is not as easy as it looks. But I'm a bit bored of these questions. Even the French media are asking is Ligue 1 as strong in terms of intensity. Maybe there's a case but it's not all about intensity. Maybe England is more competitive but I don't see many English teams in the semi-finals of European competitions over the last five or six years. Maybe they have reached a further level in terms of fatigue. You need to find a right balance. There are problems in every domestic league”

PSG knocked out English opposition in the previous round and many in the French media believe City are inferior to their quarter-final opponents however, Blanc does not buy into this view and, looking ahead to the first leg at the Parc de Princes, saying “When we drew Manchester City we were quite happy to avoid the two 'ogres' of European football that are Bayern Munich and Barcelona. We may add a third one in Real Madrid. But I have the impression the media and the supporters of Paris St Germain think this is an easy draw. Let's not get into that. I gave a speech to the players where I said do not listen to people who are saying that, they don't know anything about football. If you look at their squad, the number of quality players, they have great individual players. We are preparing ourselves for two very difficult games”