Lionel Messi, against Di María and Otamendi: the Champions group that forces the clash between Argentines

For just over a decade, fans, players, coaches and managers of the Paris Saint Germain they observe this ritual every European summer in the illusion that it is the first step towards an elusive goal. This time, the draw for the Champions League has placed the French champion in a demanding group, even if not so much as to be classified by lovers of clichés such as the “of death”and in which the Argentine presence is guaranteed in three of its four members.

The case decided during the ceremony that took place in Istanbul that Juventus, Benfica and Maccabi Haifa will be the opponents with whom the team’s Leone Messi, who could play for the last time the match won four times with Barcelona (his contract with PSG expires at the end of the season). With the jacket of the Catalan cast, he crossed seven times with the juve (three wins, two draws and two defeats) and two with i Eagles Portuguese (one win and one draw).

Beyond what this tournament might mean for Messi, for his team it is an almost obsessive desire since the management of the Qatar Sovereign Investment Fund took over the club in mid-2011. Since then, the French team has tried 10 times and never succeeded. It has never been as close as in 2020, when he lost the final to Bayern Munich in Lisbon. In the other nine editions he capitulated once in the semifinals, four in the quarter-finals and another four in the round of 16.

This time they will face two champions of the main European club competition in their area, as happened in 2014/15 (Barcelona and Ajax), 2017/18 (Bayern Munich and Celtic) and 2018/19 (Liverpool and Ajax) Red Star editions) . He was successful in all of them. And there is nothing to assume that this time the same thing will not happen. Because the laurels of Juventus and Benfica have dried up and their present puts them one step behind PSG.

Like most European teams, the old lady is still putting together the pieces of the beginning of the season, in which he beat Sassuolo and drew with Sampdoria in Serie A. Among the newcomers looking for their place there is a former PSG player, Angelo Di Maria, who is recovering from a muscle injury suffered on the day of his official debut. His old partner will surely join him in the next few hours Leandro Paredeswith no place in the French team.

The Champions League, a tournament won in 1985 (when it was still called the Champions Cup) and 1996, has escaped Torino in recent years after finishing second in 2015 (lost to Barcelona) and 2017 (lost to Real Madrid). Since then he has never managed to cross the quarter-final barrier. Last year he was surprised in the round of 16 by Villarreal.

If the last European seasons have not been a good omen for Juventus, for Benfica the golden years have remained in prehistory: his two continental titles were in 1961 and 1962 and his last final, in 1990 (lost to Milan). Last year they reached the quarter-finals and were eliminated by Liverpool. And in their national championship they finished third behind the Porto champion and Sporting Lisbon.

In order for his name to appear among the 32 teams that met their fate in the group stage on Thursday, the Portuguese cast, led by Nicolás Otamendi and with Enzo Fernández in their ranks since last month, they had to overcome two knockout rounds: they beat Denmark’s Midtjylland and Ukraine’s Dynamo kyiv.

Having reached this point is already a huge reward for Maccabee Haifa, the worst ranked team in the UEFA club rankings (169th) among the 32 that will compete in this edition of the Champions League. For the two-time champion of the Israeli championship it will be his third participation in the group stage: in the 2002/03 and 2009/10 seasons he was unable to advance to the round of 16.

With a team without famous players, the Green they had to travel a long and demanding route to get the ticket, since they had to go through three qualifying stages. In that raid, they left Greek Olympiacos, Cypriot Apollon Limassol and Serbian Red Star in the sewer. Their victories had an extra value: they defined the series away from home, in Athens, Nicosia and Belgrade.

PSG will have to compete with these teams from 6 September in a group stage which, due to the schedule conditions imposed by the Qatar World Cup, it will be completed in 57 days (the last date will be 1 and 2 November). A priori, he starts as a candidate not only to advance, but also to stay in first place and thus minimize the risks in the second round. The memory of the elimination in that case at the hands of Real Madrid in March is still fresh. In any case, the gaze points much further: to the final which will be played on 10 June 2023 at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.