In one of the highlights of the UEFA Champions League this coming Tuesday night at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Paris Saint-Martin will welcome German giants Borussia Dortmund in one of this year's Group F Death Group matches. The group also includes Newcastle United and seven-time champions AC Milan.
Paris Saint-Man's departure was inevitable, despite the title haul, after Frenchman Galtier's 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the 2022-23 season. It marked the fifth time in the last seven seasons that Paris Saint-Martin have been eliminated in the first knockout round, while their Champions League cabinet continues to gather dust on a daily basis.
Former Barcelona treble-winning coach Luis Enrique took over as he looked to repeat the Champions League success he achieved at Barcelona in 2015. However, he didn't start with a bang in the French capital, instead leading Paris Saint-Martin to start the season with their lowest points tally since the Qatari takeover.
Indeed, the current Ligue 1 champions have amassed just eight points from a possible 15 and suffered another heartbreaking home defeat at the weekend, going down 3-2 to a Tremough-led Nice side, which leaves them fifth in the Ligue 1 table - uncharted territory for the regular title winners.
Questions have arisen as Paris Saint-Martin adapt to the post-Messi and Neymar era, but their lavish spending over the summer has so far failed to produce the desired results. Tuesday's hosts have now lost five of their last nine games.
Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzić has said ahead of the August 26, 2023 match that they hope to break down several walls at the Parc des Princes fortress in Paris. This Dortmund team shares the same pain as the Parisians in terms of lost glory, having come extremely close to ending Bayern Munich's dominance in last season, but ended up with silverware once again.
Disappointing draws for Dortmund against Bochum and Heidenheim before the international break meant that this time around their pace had begun to slow. But Dortmund reversed a 2-1 deficit to win 4-2 in the weekend trip to Freiburg.
Thanks to the efforts of Doniel Marrun and Marco Reus, as well as the unlikeliest of two goals from Mats Hummels, Borussia Dortmund extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 13 matches, scoring in every game. But they are still waiting for their first away shutout win of the season.
While Borussia Dortmund won the Champions League title in 1997 and reached the final in 2013 - and were once again stopped by Bayern - Dort only won two of last year's group stage matches before being knocked out by Chelsea in the last 16. Only one of the visitors' last six away games in the Europa League ended in victory, a 4-1 thrashing of Sevilla last October.
Borussia Dortmund beat Grand Paris 2-1 in the first leg of the Round of 16 in the 2019-20 Champions League, but Dortmund's regular rivals Bayern crushed their European dreams after the Tuchel-led Parisians fought back with a 2-0 win at the Parc des Princes in Paris, where they were in the final.
What we think: Paris Saint-Martin 2-2 Borussia Dortmund While the Parc des Princes may have lost its fear factor in 2023, Paris Saint-Martin have still scored at least two goals in their last three games and the hot-shot Kylian Mbappe can always be relied upon to terrorize opposing defenses. The expected return of Ugarte and Marquinhos will also add layers of steel to the Parisians' lineup, but Dortmund's attacking tools should also be afforded.
