After so many seasons of Champions League disappointment, Paris Saint-Germain might now be the best team in Europe.
You wouldn’t have come close to saying that after their various humbling exits in recent seasons, but since starting last season’s Champions League campaign PSG have lost just four games out of 20.
When you consider that they’ve lost eight times in Ligue 1 this term, where they are usually invincible, you have to wonder how and why has their form flipped on its head.
Perhaps it’s down to the growth in confidence that last year’s run to the final brought.
Former boss Thomas Tuchel worked hard to equip his men with the belief they could beat the continent’s biggest sides and, despite Mauricio Pochettino taking over in the dugout in January, that sense of belonging hasn’t disappeared.
Although PSG have beaten Barcelona, Manchester United and Real Madrid at various points of their last two European campaigns, scoring three away at reigning champions Bayern Munich is surely the high point.
Clever on the continent
As well as increased belief, PSG also seem more tactically savvy on the biggest stage.
In the early stages of Wednesday’s first leg, they continually hit Bayern on the counter attack, using the intricate skill of Julian Draxler and Angel di Maria to beat the press and then getting Neymar and Kylian Mbappe running at a comparatively slow back line.
When Bayern came roaring back, Pochettino’s men – despite losing key man Marquinhos and shipping a couple of goals – kept attacking, which perhaps they were guilty of not doing in recent years.
A different mindset
A final reason for their improved European displays comes down to mentality.
The likes of Neymar, Di Maria and Keylor Navas seem to have saved their best form for the big European nights and it looks like the lack of crowds has helped them to focus on the job in hand rather than get lost in the emotion of big away games such as the infamous ‘remontada’ of 2017 in Barcelona.
The perennial question was always about whether PSG could translate their Ligue 1 dominance to Europe.
But now – with Lille topping France’s top flight instead after beating PSG last weekend – can Pochettino and his coterie of stars do it the other way round and take their Champions League form back to domestic matters?
Their trip to Strasbourg on Saturday afternoon will hold the answer.