Not necessarily very polished in terms of draws in the Champions League in recent years, Paris SG sees something of a clearing up this season. By inheriting Real Sociedad in the round of 16, the capital club had already been spared. But that’s nothing compared to the draw made this Friday to designate his opponent in the quarter-finals, FC Barcelona, then the one he could face in the semi-finals if he passes the Catalan obstacle, namely the winner of the confrontation between Borussia Dortmund and Atlético Madrid. Which therefore means that the title holder (Manchester City), the leader of the Premier League (Arsenal), that of La Liga (Real Madrid) and even Bayern Munich appear in the other half of the table.
Enough to consider the future differently. While everyone feared a disastrous confrontation against the Citizens or the Merengue, Kylian Mbappé’s gang can believe in their lucky star of 2024. Even if, obviously, Borussia, Barça or the Colchoneros can be exactly in the same state of mind. Still, in the eyes of the sports statistics giant, Opta, this favorable draw caused the Parisians to change their status. Thus, before this one, they were logically in 4th place with an 11.8% chance of winning the title, behind Manchester City (32.3% chance of retaining their title), Real Madrid (16.87%). and Arsenal (13.09%), and just ahead of Bayern Munich (10.75%).
But inevitably, the major clash between Mancunians and Madrilenians in the quarters completely changes the situation. By adjusting its data after the draw, Opta now estimates that PSG is the runner-up to the Citizens, still big favorites with 29.46% against 16.15% for Luis Enrique’s men. Which therefore means that for the English company founded in 1996, Paris is the favorite in its part of the table. It is therefore now up to Mbappé and others not to make the figures lie and to invite themselves to the final on June 1, to experience the second Champions League final in the history of the Parisian club after the one lost to at Bayern Munich (0-1) at the end of the 2019-2020 season.