PSG aim to rule Europe with €1bn brand

The stats are with Paris, according to national sports daily L’Equipe and the French have a right to be confident about their match against Chelsea tonight.

PSG have gone 15 games unbeaten since a surprise cup defeat by Montpellier in January, and in the Champions League a 3-1 advantage from the home leg almost always guarantees progress. But then again, if you are looking for omens, the only two matches when a 3-1 lead has been overturned have both involved Chelsea. In 2000 they went down 5-1 in Barcelona, in 2012 they went through 4-1 against Napoli: both matches went to extra time.

PSG are on the brink of retaining their French league title, but this game is the big one, bigger than it is for Chelsea. For a major club they have a surprisingly brief past — they were only founded in 1970 — and their only European trophy is the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996, unless you count the Intertoto. They were set up to be the sporting flagship for the capital city, and promoted and subsidised as such, but for years they were in the shadow of Marseille and then Lyon, known for the warring factions among their fans as much as cup successes.