Can PSG go all the way in the Champions League this year?

As Paris Saint-Germain take on German side Bayer Leverkusen this week in their Champions league last 16 draw,we take a look at how far can PSG go all the way in the Champions League this year?

The French champions will be confident that they can at least repeat last season’s quarter-final appearance, but standing in their way are the Bundesliga’s second-placed side.

PSG will be boosted by the news that coach Laurent Blanc has avoided a one-match ban after UEFA partially overturned their decision to punish Blanc for three delayed kick-offs during the capital club’s group-stage campaign.

However, Edinson Cavani’s hamstring injury and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s back troubles that have bothered him in recent weeks will be cause for concern ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Germany.

With both expected to miss out against Valenciennes in Friday’s Ligue 1 clash, there is a chance that the Parisians will be under strength when they face Leverkusen.

But the calendar has not been kind to their first leg hosts. Leverkusen were knocked out of the DFB Pokal on Wednesday, after being taken to extra time at home by second-tier side Kaiserslautern, and they face fourth-placed Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

If the Ligue 1 leaders can avoid defeat away from home against Sami Hyypia’s tired side next week, they will be confident of finishing the job at home with a full complement of stars to choose from.

But how far can they realistically expect to go?

That is the key difference between this season’s side and last, hence the emphasis on the importance of the presence of Ibrahimovic and Cavani. The team are more clinical.

In the Swede and the Uruguayan, PSG now have two of the best strikers in world football and arguably the best strike pairing in Europe. The challenge for Blanc is to settle on his preferred third player to play alongside the duo in his favoured three-pronged attack.

Domestically, he can get away with rotating Lucas Moura, Javier Pastore, Ezequiel Lavezzi and to a lesser extent Jeremy Menez, but in Europe the Frenchman needs to decide on what he considers to be his strongest front three.

If everything goes on right and well for PSG, they might be the champions of Europe this time.