Champions League : Is It Time For Paris Saint Germain To Rule Europe?

For so long a time, French football has been in the shadows of the English, German, Spanish and the Italian powerhouses who have been ruling Europe for quite some time now. They have all had their good times with a team from one of these four countries winning the coveted Champions league title every year, namely Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Real Madrid being the major ones. Players like Thierry Henry have been France’s one of the best ever contributions to the English and world football. Over the years, because of the phenomenally tight contest between all the popular clubs like Monaco, Marseille, Lyon, Paris Saint-Germain, Saint-Etienne, etc, France Ligue 1 has just remained as the hidden gem of the football world.
But now the time is changing, the ownership of Paris Saint-Germain football club by the Qatar Investment Authority in 2011 has been one of the major revolutions in the football world. It has restored a sense of balance and seen the Parisians leap frog the rest of the French league and become the most powerful club in France. They displayed their power well enough when they became the biggest spenders splashing 147 million pounds in the 2012-13 transfer window. No longer were the best French players meant to go to the likes of Arsenal, AC Milan and Barcelona to further their careers and fortune, instead they bought players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Thiago Silva who are known amongst one of the best players of the world. The most famous of all, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid superstar, David Beckham too spent the last spell of his legendary journey in this French club.

The 364 million pounds spent on all the activities after 2011 till now finally bought the Les Parisiens the much awaited glory after 19 years when they won the French Ligue 1 last year in 2013, thus proclaiming and announcing their whole new status of being the champions.
French Ligue 1 journey over the past 5 years

          Matches
Season     Points   Played   Won   Draw   Loss   Position
2013-2014 40 17 12 4 1 1(ongoing)
2012-2013 83 38 25 8 5 1
2011-2012 79 38 23 10 5 2
2010-2011 60 38 15 15 8 4
2009-2010 47 38 12 11 15 13

They are leading the table again this season but are potentially under threat by the newly promoted club Monaco who are emerging as the wonder club thanks to their Russian billionaire owner Dmitry Rybolvlev. So, here lies the real question,                                                                        Considering the threat from a newly promoted club to PSG’s dominance, is it really possible that they’ll be able to rule EUROPE this season, as in, win the Champions league trophy 2013-14?

Until now, they have played really well in this year’s group stage and made it comfortably to the Round of 16 with 13 points from the 5 matches played. Ibrahimovic is on a hot streak and has already scored 8 goals in 5 matches. Edinson Cavani too is playing great combined with the superb defence of Thiago Silva and others, infact the team overall looks in a very good shape to move ahead.

But the real test begins now, when they may have to face teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus in the next round, who are world class teams and the powerhouses of their own country’s leagues. Last year, PSG almost beat the Spanish champions Barcelona in the quarterfinals but lost finally on away goals in a close encounter. This year, they stand in a much better position considering the addition of the striking brilliance of Edinson Cavani, world’s fifth highest transfer of all time.

Not to forget, they are not the only ones reshaping themselves, other teams have too revamped themselves, Barcelona adding Neymar, Real Madrid adding Gareth Bale, Bayern Munich adding Mario Gotze and the managing experience of Pep Guardiola, pioneer of Barcelona’s European glory. So, PSG have to ensure that they reach to the level of these clubs and prove their mettle this time by giving a serious competition for the world’s most wanted crown –  THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TROPHY.