Paris ready to push on at Celtic's expense
martedì 7 novembre 2017
Intro articolo
Paris Saint-Germain sealed progress from Group B last time out and have the chance to clinch first place against Celtic, who are now restricted to aiming for third position.
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Corpo articolo
Paris Saint-Germain have been imperious so far in Group B, and will look to wrap up first place when eliminated Celtic FC come to the Parc des Princes.
• Unai Emery's team have maximum points after four games and are through to the last 16. They will clinch top spot if they win and second-placed FC Bayern München do not pick up three points at bottom side RSC Anderlecht – or if Paris draw and Bayern lose.
• Celtic suffered their biggest European home defeat against Paris on matchday one, going down 5-0 in Glasgow. The Scots cannot finish in the top two but will seal third position if they win and Anderlecht do not, or if they draw and Anderlecht lose.
Previous meetings
• The teams' only previous encounters came in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round, Paris running out comfortable 4-0 winners over the two legs – and going on to lift their sole piece of major European silverware.
• The French side were 1-0 first-leg victors at the Parc des Princes thanks to a Youri Djorkaeff goal (76) before Patrice Loko struck twice in Glasgow (36, 42) with Pascal Nouma (68) getting the other.
Match background
Paris
• The Parisians have won all four Group B games so far; at home they were 3-0 victors against Bayern on matchday two before a 5-0 thrashing of Anderlecht last time out.
• Paris have scored 17 goals in winning their first four matches, conceding none. No team have ever gone through a UEFA Champions League group stage without conceding.
• Paris are unbeaten in their seven fixtures against Scottish clubs (W4 D3); at home their record is W2 D1.
• Paris have lost just one of their last 45 European home games since crashing 4-2 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage (W29 D15) – going down 3-1 to FC Barcelona in the 2014/15 quarter-finals.
• They picked up five points at home in last season's group stage (W1 D2).
• Quarter-finalists in four successive seasons between 2013 and 2016, Paris were on the wrong end of the biggest comeback in UEFA Champions League history in last term's round of 16. Having won 4-0 at home to Barcelona, PSG succumbed 6-1 in the away leg to bow out with Neymar – now of Paris – providing two goals and an assist.
Celtic
• Celtic are without a win in their last six visits to France (D2 L4). Their sole success came on their first trip, a 3-1 win at FC Nantes in the second round first leg of their victorious 1966/67 European Cup campaign.
• Celtic's overall record against French clubs is W5 D2 L8.
• Prior to matchday one, the Scottish side's last experience of French opposition came in the form of Stade Rennais FC in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League group stage. Celtic won 3-1 at home after a 1-1 draw in France.
• The Hoops have won just one of their last 19 group stage fixtures in the UEFA Champions League or UEFA Europa League (D7 L11), beating Anderlecht 3-0 in Belgium on matchday two. That ended a ten-game (D3 L7), four-year winless run in the UEFA Champions League group stage; their previous victory had been a 2-1 home success over AFC Ajax on 22 October 2013.
• In 2016/17 Celtic came fourth in their section, taking three points from six matches. They suffered a record 7-0 loss at FC Barcelona but drew 1-1 at both VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach and Manchester City FC.
• Celtic began the season in the second qualifying round, beating Linfield FC (2-0 away, 4-0 home) and then Rosenborg BK in the third qualifying round (0-0 home, 1-0 away). They posted a fifth straight clean sheet with a 5-0 win against FC Astana in the home first leg of their play-off, advancing despite a 4-3 loss in Kazakhstan which ended a four-game (W2 D2) unbeaten away run in Europe.
• The victory at Linfield broke Celtic's 11-match sequence without an away win in Europe (D6 L5).
• Scottish champions for a sixth consecutive campaign in 2016/17 – when they went through their domestic season unbeaten – Celtic are in the group stage for the tenth time.
Coach and player links
• Emery was in charge of FC Spartak Moskva when Celtic registered their first UEFA Champions League away victory with a 3-2 win in Moscow on 2 October 2012.
• Craig Gordon and Scott Brown were in the Scotland team that won 1-0 away to France at the Parc des Princes in a UEFA EURO 2008 qualifier on 12 September 2007.
• Moussa Dembélé was a team-mate of Adrien Rabiot and Presnel Kimpembe in the Paris academy between 2010 and 2012. Odsonne Edouard, who is on loan at Celtic for the season, also came through the Paris ranks between 2011 and 2016.
• Dembélé and Olivier Ntcham, plus Paris pair Rabiot and Kimpembe, are French Under-21 internationals.
• Lorenzo Callegari, Alec Georgen, Antoine Bernede, Moussa Diaby and Edouard play together for France's Under-19s.
• Dedryck Boyata and Thomas Meunier play together for Belgium.
• Ntcham had spells with Chennevières-sur-Marne, US Ormesson, VGA Saint-Maur, Paris FC and Le Havre AC in his native France before signing for Manchester City in 2015.
• Thiago Motta was sent off in Barcelona's 1-0 first-leg loss at Celtic in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup fourth round.
• Neymar has five goals in five UEFA Champions League appearances against Celtic. He hit a hat-trick in Barcelona's 6-1 home win on 11 December 2013, and also struck in a 7-0 victory at Camp Nou on matchday one last season – Celtic's heaviest European defeat – when the Brazilian also managed a record-equalling four assists.
• Neymar and Dani Alves were in the Barcelona side that won 1-0 at Celtic in the 2013/14 group stage, having lost 2-1 at Celtic Park in 2012/13.
Match facts
Paris
• Paris are 22 games unbeaten in all competitions – French Super Cup included – since a 3-1 league defeat by OGC Nice on 30 April (W19 D3).
• Edinson Cavani has registered 19 goals in 17 club outings this term, including two in Saturday's 4-1 win against FC Nantes. Neymar has 11 in 13 for Paris.
• Paris have scored five goals or more in a match on six occasions this season and are averaging more than 3.5 goals per game.
• Cavani, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé have all been on the scoresheet together in four games this term, including two matches in the UEFA Champions League.
• Cavani's UEFA Champions League scoring streak ended at seven consecutive games as he failed to find the net against Anderlecht on matchday four, one short of Cristiano Ronaldo's record.
• Mbappé became the youngest player to reach 20 French top-flight goals in the last 40 years with two in the 5-0 win at Angers SCO on 4 November.
• Neymar converted one penalty and missed another as Brazil beat Japan 3-1 in a friendly in Lille on 10 November.
• Kevin Trapp and Julian Draxler went head-to-head with Mbappé, Adrien Rabiot and Layvin Lurzawa as Germany and France drew 2-2 in Cologne on 14 November.
• Marco Verratti was suspended for the second leg after a booking in the first as Italy lost 1-0 on aggregate to Sweden in the FIFA World Cup play-offs.
• Giovani Lo Celso won his first caps as Argentina beat Russia 1-0 on 11 November and lost 4-2 to Nigeria three days later.
• Cavani was on target in Uruguay's 2-1 friendly win against Austria on 14 November.
• Cavani, Mbappé and Neymar are on the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or. The winner will be announced on 6 December.
Celtic
• Celtic are 64 domestic matches unbeaten, eclipsing their own British record of 62 set by Willie Maley's team between 1915 and 1917.
• Kieran Tierney, 20, became the youngest Celtic player to captain his country when he led Scotland out in their 1-0 friendly defeat by the Netherlands on 9 November. Callum McGregor won his first Scotland cap in the match in Aberdeen.
• Tierney made his 100th appearance for the Hoops in Saturday's 1-0 win at Ross County FC.
• Leigh Griffiths, recovered from a calf injury, came off the bench to curl in the free-kick winner in that game, 12 minutes from time.
• Griffiths, Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong missed Scotland's loss to the Netherlands through injury, but all recovered to take their place in the starting line-up in Dingwall.
• Jozo Šimunović was also on the bench having recovered from his hamstring injury, while Patrick Roberts (hamstring) and Erik Sviatchenko (knee) are also available again.
• Mikael Lustig helped Sweden qualify for the FIFA World Cup, playing the full 90 minutes of the 0-0 draw with Italy at San Siro on 13 November.
• On the same night, Moussa Dembélé scored a 12-minute hat-trick for France Under-21s in their 4-1 victory over Slovenia.
• Tom Rogic featured in both legs as Australia booked their World Cup spot with a 3-1 aggregate win against Honduras.
• Dorus de Vries has signed a new one-year deal which will keep him at Celtic until 2019.