PSG ended Champions League curse vs. Dortmund. Only time will tell if they get to keep going

PSG ended Champions League curse vs. Dortmund. Only time will tell if they get to keep going

Julien Laurens
Correspondent
ESPN

It was a seismic event in an empty stadium as the biggest Paris Saint-Germain victory of the season to date was celebrated in almost complete silence. Yet some of the players swear that, when Anthony Taylor blew the whistle for full-time, confirming PSG's place in the Champions League quarterfinals and eliminating Borussia Dortmund, they could hear the thousands of fans gathered outside the Parc des Princes while they left the pitch inside.

Wednesday night's 2-0 win happened behind closed doors, but all through the mild Parisian night, the doors had been open a little bit. The ultras, congregating outside, demonstrated what it meant to love a football club. They were a constant presence before, during and after the game, singing, chanting and lighting red flares in celebration.

They had good reason to celebrate, too. The victory was significant given that the pressure on PSG was high, the stakes enormous and the emotional release at full-time so huge. PSG, Thomas Tuchel, the Qatar royal family that owns the club, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, you name it: They would not be knocked out again at this stage of the competition like they were in the past three seasons. Repeating that heartbreak would have surely signified the end of Tuchel as manager and probably the end of the "Neymappe" cycle, too. Another early humiliation would have very possibly meant their collective departure in the summer.

The reputation of being the team that bottles the big occasions after two remontada home and away in the past three years was starting to follow them around. The curse of the Champions League, with all those dramatic premature exits, was starting to be too heavy to carry. On top of all of that, they had to play in an empty stadium and with Mbappe on the bench, having barely recovered from a nasty case of flu and a precautionary coronavirus test that came out negative the day before the game.

With all the narratives swirling around the match, they still came out with a performance none of their fans (or critics) had seen this season. They played as a team, something no one really thought they could pull off. They defended together, pressing and counterpressing together. It was a display full of heart, guts and talent. They were disciplined, well-organised, aggressive. It was a controlled victory, not a thing you normally say about PSG, particularly not this season.

One player epitomised their efforts. Neymar is, without doubt, a divisive player. He is loved and disliked around the world in equal. He did troll Erling Haaland with his goal celebration after the Norwegian international kicked off the banter on social media earlier in the day. Dortmund as a club had actually been quite vocal on social media after their 2-1 first leg win, with the likes of Axel Witsel, Emre Can, Haaland, the club's official Twitter account and even former player (and Champions League winner) Lars Ricken all having a go at PSG.

"We felt that [Dortmund] lost their humility after the first leg. After their win, they put out a lot of tweets, Instagram posts -- a lot of words. We all saw it and kept it in the back of our heads and I think it boosted us. We had a bit of anger in our minds," Presnel Kimpembe said after the match on Wednesday.

The roles were reversed compared to last season's elimination, in which PSG were not humble enough before their ill-fated game against Manchester United at home. But the players learned their lesson this time around, with Neymar setting the tone and playing like a leader. He scored the first goal and began the move for the second one. For the Brazil international, who missed the previous two crucial round-of-16 Champions League second legs through injury and failed to get his move back to Barcelona in the summer, the qualification felt like a liberation.

Before the communion with the fans from one of the Parc des Princes' elevated passageways, Neymar had a moment to himself and cried. Like his teammates, he knows that there is still a long way to go in this competition and that PSG have not won anything yet, but it was a crucial victory and he knew it.

Said Tuchel of his star, "He is so reliable in those kind of games. We can count on him, he won't disappoint and he will meet for rations. He can deal with the pressure. He has the personality and the confidence to exploit his genius potential. He still needs a bit of rhythm but he has the sense of sacrifice."

Truth be told, the French champions had been confident all week. All the vibes emanating from the PSG camp were positive -- a genuine change from the doom and gloom they've felt at times in 2020. It had been a few turbulent weeks since the first leg in Dortmund and the 2-1 defeat after a poor display both individually and collectively. Tuchel's position was fragile; he was publicly criticised by Thomas Meunier, Neymar and Marquinhos while Kimpembe's brother insulted him on social media. There were Neymar's injuries and Mbappé's illness, but after the first leg, the players jelled together. They responded together to the criticism from sporting director Leonardo and Tuchel that they should not have celebrated the way they did the birthdays of Mauro Icardi, Angel Di Maria and Edinson Cavani two days after the loss in Germany.

Tuchel's postmatch remarks revealed his relief. "It got stuck in my throat when I saw the way PSG are treated, how you talk about me," he told Sky Germany after the game, given how critical it had been following Dortmund's first-leg win. "I watched your show on my iPad by accident and I saw the headlines, 'Tuchel doesn't control his dressing room, his players do what they want, he is only a circus director.' You can say hi to your channel. You will have to explain to me how you can treat [me and PSG] so negatively when we have won 28 games in a row."

Goalkeeper Keylor Navas also showed his leadership by standing up to Leonardo. The squad showed more unity than ever, and we saw it after the win on Wednesday. The celebrations with the ultras and in the dressing room were wild and long-lasting. However, it could not be a PSG Champions League season without drama, and obviously the uncertainty about the rest of the competition cast a big shadow over the qualification. It would be so textbook for PSG if the Champions League was to be cancelled the year when they finally vanquished the hoodoo around them and showed a real ability to go on and win.

Nevertheless, the club's attention has shifted to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak across the globe, and they're taking it seriously. When Mbappé was diagnosed with the flu on Monday, he was immediately tested for COVID-19. They are taking sensible precautions, like the complete disinfection of the stadium and training ground, with access to hand gel everywhere around club properties.

As the world of football holds its breath regarding the rest of its season, PSG are feeling stronger and stronger. With as much as hope as possible that the action will continue, the full story of their season, along with that of everyone else still in the Champions League, are yet to be written.

East coast bias!? What east coast bias?

My name is Dervish. Whirling Dervish. And I have some news that is past due for those suffering from the jibjabs down in Bristol, Connecticut.

From the AP...

ESPN set to add West Coast
facility

By Greg Johnson
Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — West Coast fans who have long suspected an East Coast bias
from Bristol, Conn.-based ESPN can begin to rest easier, because the cable
sports giant is on track to open by spring 2009 a full-fledged broadcast
production facility across from Staples Center.
The five-story ESPN building
that is taking shape will house an ESPN Zone restaurant on the first two floors
and two television production studios with digital control rooms on upper
floors. One studio will become home for the late-night edition of its signature
"SportsCenter" that now is produced on the busy Bristol campus. ESPN also will
house its 710 AM radio station studios next door in an office building now under
construction.
"The scope of this project makes sense on a lot of different
levels," said ESPN President George W. Bodenheimer, who was in town last week.
"And, frankly, having toured it today, I feel very good about our decision to
come out here."
Bodenheimer declined to state the cost of the new building.
But, during a groundbreaking two years ago for the entertainment district that
will surround Staples Center, television industry insiders speculated that the
building would cost ESPN about $100 million.
One broadcast industry engineer
recently estimated the cost of digital technology for the West Coast television
studio at between $35 million and $45 million, with related construction costs
of about $20 million — not including the restaurant, which will open late next
year.
ESPN executives are still wrestling with how to introduce fans to a
bicoastal "SportsCenter," with early shows originating in Bristol and the late
edition coming from L.A. The network regularly incorporates feeds from studios
in New York City, Washington and Charlotte, N.C., but the show's hosts always
have been in Bristol.
ESPN hopes to make the switch in a manner that won't
confuse viewers. For example, there's a good chance that the two studios will be
identical in appearance, and ESPN must decide if broadcasts will be regularly
labeled as "live from Los Angeles."
The network that reaches about 94
million U.S. homes has yet to announce what other programming will originate in
the new facility. But one studio is large enough to accommodate a studio
audience, and Bodenheimer said the L.A. facility "can only mean good things for
ESPN Deportes," the network's Spanish-language channel.
ESPN's television,
radio and Internet operations will have about 100 employees here when the
facility opens, according to Bob Eaton, ESPN's former managing editor who is
overseeing the project as a consultant.
Perhaps the most unusual need? Extra
insulation.
"For street noise," Eaton said, "which we don't have in
Bristol."
He also said the technology that is being added "seems to change
overnight" as digital advances occur. Beyond the studios, which are now little
more than big (7,500 and 5,000 square feet, respectively) empty rooms, the upper
floors will have more than half a dozen editing bays where crews will piece
together video and audio clips.
There also will be a newsroom that will
house reporters, editors and others who feed the never-ending demand for instant
updates and analysis.
As for the larger studio with room for an audience,
Eaton said ESPN isn't sure it would produce such a show, but "it's better to be
forward-thinking at this stage."
On the day of the tour, crews were working
on the massive air-conditioning ducts, which will counter the heat generated by
the studio lighting and wealth of electronic equipment. The walls have yet to be
installed, though conduits are in place for the miles of wiring that are needed.
While ESPN's headquarters will remain firmly rooted in Bristol, Bodenheimer
said, "We'll be moving some of our highest-potential folks out here."
The
network also expects to leverage its proximity to Hollywood to create its own
entertainment offerings.
The new studio and restaurant mark the latest in a
series of collaborations involving ESPN, a subsidiary of Burbank-based Walt
Disney Group, and AEG, which owns and operates Staples Center and theaters and
arenas in the U.S. and overseas.
Next summer, ESPN will move its ESPY Awards
show into the neighboring Nokia Theatre, which AEG recently opened. ESPN also
holds its Summer X Games in Staples Center and at the Home Depot Center.
The
new broadcast facility is expected to shorten the workday for some in Bristol,
where crews now staff the overnight shifts that are necessary to keep ESPN's
sports programming fresh. The West Coast facility will be linked to the Bristol
studios by digital pipelines that promise to give L.A.-based staffers almost
immediate access to content now stored at the headquarters, Eaton
said.

Cue the Hallelujah chorus.

Bloody Tiger Woods...

Too much hype on one person is a bad thing. There is this guy by the name of Aaron Baddeley, and he is the leader so far at the US Open heading into the final round tomorrow. But he's not the person getting the hype. The guy behind him is, and he's getting, I think, way, way, way too much highlights on ESPN. Only one highlight on Aaron, and then the schmucks at ESPNEWS cut to the scorboard. If this proves to Aaron's advantage, and he finishes the tournament ahead of Tiger tomorrow, then ESPN should get a slap on the wrists for putting too much hype on Tiger Woods.

So what if he shoots a 69 and has only one bogey and a bevy of pars. He's still two shots back, and the game of golf doesn't exactly see things go the way they are. If they do this again, and show only one highlight of the current leader, and him holding the trophy, while putting 20 or so highlights on Tiger, ESPN should be cursed for not giving love to the young Aussie wonder, a guy who might surpass Greg Norman in notoriety (but for all the right reasons, of course).

The BoBA dictionary defines...

Expert: Another name for a pretentious overpaid tard who is intoxicated from drinking too much power conference Kool-Aid and fapping at Florida's efforts to get their mojo back. See also: Joe Lunardi.

Seriously, though, I hope we impress on Friday and make a good game out of it, cause it seems we have some unbelievers among the heathens who pollute ESPN.

This is supposed to be American Idol, not American Fraternity!

I am bemused that millions of prospective contestants from all over this reality-crazed shell of a country auditioned for American Idol, not knowing that they would be treated verbally like virgin freshmen pledges fresh out of high schools owned by celibate nuns in a convent. Even worse is that there are millions of viewers who feast on the futility of the millions of prospects who are given a verbal hazing by Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell. And to add insult to viewing, the executives at FOX are not admitting that there could be, and will be, some lawsuits and some reprimanding going their way in a lame attempt to save face, and deny that they have issues.

If I was told those remarks, Randy and/or Simon would be sent into a coma. On TV. While I am disdainful, or simply indifferent to shows like this, there is no doubt in my mind that their upping the ante in front of parents with children will become as condemned as Bush continuing his futile plan against the Iraqi resistance.

Were the contestants even informed that they would be given this ridicule? Were they even prepared? Did FOX even know about this? If all three questions point to no, then I believe America has issues as to what is appropriate for television, and what is great for networks like Comedy Central, who like to expose, and mock, peoples’ shortcomings. In good taste, I might add.

Note: this is the same American Idol that won an award from Nickelodeon in 2005. Nickelodeon-a children’s network. I’d place heavy odds against them winning it this year.

Thank common sense I tune in to college sports and ESPN instead. While Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser can be downright Pharaisical in their PTI rantings, in terms of quality, Jackson and Cowell AND Paula Abdul (who I’ve even lost respect for) wouldn’t stand a chance. In fact, I’ve seen people on BigSoccer, hell, I’ve seen people at my fraternity talk even better smack than those two tards. And that, my friend, is the bottom line.