PARIS // Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc sought to downplay his side’s Champions League prospects after they qualified for the last 16 by beating Olympiakos on Wednesday.
PSG beat the Greek champions 2-1 at the Parc des Princes despite playing half the game with 10 men following the sending-off of Marco Verratti, as Edinson Cavani struck a last-minute winner for the hosts following earlier goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kostas Manolas.
The big-spending Ligue 1 leaders are now unbeaten in 35 games in all competitions and remain on course to at least match last season’s run to the quarter-finals, when they lost to Barcelona on away goals.
“The first thing we must do is aim to finish first in our group, and we have done that, so we are very satisfied,” said Blanc, who has remarkably not lost since replacing Carlo Ancelotti in the Paris dugout in the summer.
“But you know the Champions League is a very difficult competition to win. There are other clubs out there who can say with greater legitimacy than us that they can win it, that’s for sure.
“I think we also need to wait and see who we might face when the draw is made. If you get the right draw, it gives you more of a chance of going through than if you a big name. I don’t know who, but maybe a Catalan team for example,” he added, although Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid - who have both won their groups - are the only two teams PSG are certain to avoid in next month’s draw.
“Finishing first was a really important objective for us. We are ambitious, we want to go as far as possible, but we must go one step at a time. The next step is to see which teams are also through, who finishes second in the other groups, and then hopefully we can get a kind draw.”
Blanc was pleased with his side’s display against Olympiakos, in particular their strength in adversity as they recovered from Verratti’s red card and Manolas’s equaliser - which was allowed to stand despite Chori Dominguez being in an offside position in the build-up - to triumph for the fourth time in five Group C matches.
Verratti has had disciplinary problems ever since arriving at PSG last year, and Blanc’s predecessor Ancelotti accused the young Italian of picking up too many stupid cautions. However, Blanc felt that the sending-off was harsh.
“He deserved his first yellow card for handball. That was stupid, although it broke up an attack so it helped the team.
“You know how many fouls Marco Verratti committed? Two. I am not defending him but these are things that happen in a game and, with his reputation, he paid the price.
“The solidarity and desire shown by the players with 10 men, to keep pushing forward and win the game rather than just sitting back, is a quality that great teams must have. Sometimes, things can go against you in games, like tonight, and we need to be able to call on that mental strength.”
PSG, who are four points clear in Ligue 1 before playing Lyon on Sunday, will go to Benfica next month with the pressure off, but the battle for second place in Group C will go to the wire.
Olympiakos and Benfica are level on seven points apiece, and the Greeks will go through with a win at home to Anderlecht in their last game, but anything less will allow the Portuguese side in.
They would have been pleased to hear Blanc say that he would field a strong side in that final match, and the Greek club’s coach Michel believes his side deserve to advance.
“Olympiakos are capable of playing in the same manner wherever we go,” said the former Real Madrid player. “This is a positive thing. The essential thing is that we put in a great effort tonight and we deserve to go through. That is what we need to have in mind when we face Anderlecht.”
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The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
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Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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More from our neighbourhood series:
The biog
Born November 11, 1948
Education: BA, English Language and Literature, Cairo University
Family: Four brothers, seven sisters, two daughters, 42 and 39, two sons, 43 and 35, and 15 grandchildren
Hobbies: Reading and traveling
Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200