This Wednesday at 9 p.m. (broadcast on Canal+), Paris Saint-Germain face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in Matchday 2 of the 2026–2027 Champions League. In a press conference, the English club’s manager, Enzo Maresca, spoke about the match and their Parisian opponents.
Maresca: “We’ll need to play a perfect match”
“The message for tomorrow night is very simple. We’ll need to play a perfect match because they are the best team in Europe; they’ve won the last two editions of the Champions League. If we give our best, we can beat them and end the evening on a positive note. We are undoubtedly a good team.”
Maresca: “I know how good they are.”
Where do we stand right now compared to PSG?
“I don’t know. I know how good they are. They’ve won the last two Champions League titles, which really shows their level. I don’t know if we’re close to them or far off, but we are a good team.”
These are strong words, especially coming from a club that has won titles quite recently—including the Champions League in 2023. It speaks volumes about the progress PSG has made, as they are being cited as the “big club” in this matchup. Of course, this kind of rhetoric is also designed to take the pressure off his players and spur them on to deliver a great performance—something that would be a real boost.
However, Maresca isn’t saying this at random. He knows they must be wary of a Parisian side fully capable of raising their game to another level in this competition. Ultimately, it promises to be a massive clash between two title contenders. There isn’t really a clear favorite—a label that counts for little anyway. It will be top-tier football, where the outcome could hinge on the finest of margins.
