Paris Saint-Germain have made a habit over the last decade of going into the Champions League knockout stages with doubts over their form and the fitness of key players, but this season appears to be different.
The French champions could hardly be in better shape ahead of the first leg of their play-off tie against domestic rivals Brest, for which they are overwhelming favourites.
PSG’s stuttering European form at the tail end of 2024, when defeats against Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich left them in danger of being eliminated early from the Champions League, is now firmly behind them.
Luis Enrique’s team swept aside Manchester City and Stuttgart to secure a place in these knockout phase play-offs, scoring four goals against each opponent.
They could hardly have asked for a kinder draw in the play-offs either, given that they have been beaten just once in their last 61 games against French sides.
Qatar-owned PSG’s enormous financial advantage over every other French club helps explain that, but they still looked like genuine contenders to win the Champions League as they thrashed Monaco 4-1 in Ligue 1 on Friday.
“PSG with their quality especially up front can be a threat for every team,” said Monaco’s Adi Huetter after that game.
“For me they are a candidate to win the Champions League.”
It appears that the Parisians have now adapted to life without Kylian Mbappe, in large part thanks to the sensational form of Ousmane Dembele.
Mbappe’s France teammate has 16 goals in his last 10 appearances, and an astonishing eight in his last three matches.
That includes a hat-trick in PSG’s 5-2 victory in Brest in Ligue 1 just over a week ago.
Bradley Barcola has been back to something like his best form in recent weeks too, while January signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia got his first PSG goal in the win over Monaco.
A team that struggled badly to score goals in their earlier Champions League matches this season suddenly looks unstoppable.
“We have been through everything in the Champions League this season,” said Luis Enrique on Friday.
“All those delicate moments in which only our own supporters believed in us, they are all marvellous now, because they have helped us mature as a young team.
“We never stop fighting, never stop trying to play good football, pressing, trying to be aggressive, to always want the ball.
“We always go out to win, regardless of whether we are playing at home or away.
“That is our objective this season, to fight to the last in every competition to try to make history.”
Brest ‘not in same world’
In previous editions of the Champions League teams from the same country could not meet before the quarter-finals.
That has all changed with the new format in place this season, and it is the last thing Brest wanted in their first ever foray into European competition.
Just reaching this stage is an incredible achievement for the Brittany club, who are hosting home games an hour away in Guingamp because their own stadium does not meet UEFA requirements.
Facing Real Madrid there two weeks ago seemed like the pinnacle for Brest, even if they lost that game 3-0.
Whatever happens now is a bonus, although facing one of their domestic rivals over two legs takes some of the shine away, especially as Brest have not beaten PSG since January 1985.
“When you play in Europe, you prefer to play against a foreign team,” pointed out Brest coach Eric Roy after the draw.
Brest, like every team in the draw, were given two potential opponents. They could have had a glamour tie against Benfica, which would also have been less daunting.
“PSG are an incredible team, one of the four or five favourites to win the competition,” Roy said this weekend.
“On paper, we are not in the same world.”
The second leg takes place on February 19, and for whoever wins there is the prospect of a meeting with either Liverpool or Barcelona in the last 16.
