Six of the eight days of the brand new league phase have already been played in the Champions League. And, for the moment, PSG is neither among the eight teams directly qualified for the round of 16, nor among the sixteen clubs set to compete in the play-offs. Despite their victory on Tuesday evening in Salzburg (3-0), the Parisians did not move from 25e place, with 7 points, behind teams like Bruges, Celtic, PSV and Dinamo Zagreb.
This sluggish start to the campaign has caused the French champions to be virtually eliminated and to be the worst representatives of Ligue 1 in the competition, Brest and Lille (13 points) clinging to the European Top 8 while Monaco is sixteenth ( 10 points). A snub for Luis Enrique’s players, who may fear the worst since they will face Manchester City at the Parc des Princes on January 22, before a potentially decisive match in Stuttgart.
PSG has a one in three chance of exiting!
Can Paris Saint-Germain still secure a place in the play-offs? Opta’s super computer was able to simulate the next two rounds of the C1 50,000 times and the risk is great for the Rouge et Bleu to fall by the wayside. According to the statistics expert, the capital club has a 12.2% chance of finishing 25e and 15.3% chance of sliding to 26e rank. He could even fail the 27e (4.7%), 28e
(0.8%) and 29e (0.1%) places if things go even worse.
In total, Marquinhos’ teammates have almost a one in three chance (33.1%) of removing the Champions League from their calendar as of January 28. This obviously leaves a lot of hope, with a 66.9% chance of escaping, but a defeat against the Citizens who will also have a vital need for points would seriously complicate the situation. This scenario would effectively force PSG to play its continental future in the German cold…
