Football
Jonathan Johnson, PSG correspondent 6y

Win over Celtic would ease pressure on PSG ahead of Bayern clash

PARIS -- Paris Saint-Germain know that a win over Celtic at Parc des Princes on Wednesday will take the pressure off for their final UEFA Champions League Group B clash away at Bayern Munich in December.

With 12 points from four matches so far, including a 3-0 win over the German giants in the French capital, the Ligue 1 outfit are in a healthy position in terms of their goal difference -- 17 scored and none conceded.

If PSG beat Celtic and Bayern dispose of Anderlecht, as expected, then Jupp Heynckes' men will need to beat Les Parisiens by a bigger score than their three-goal loss in France to top the pool.

In brief, beat Celtic and the top spot in Group B, as well as a theoretically favourable later stage draw, will be within reach for Unai Emery and his players.

The Spaniard emphasised that staying ahead of Bayern before the trip to Munich is of the highest importance.

"For us, the Champions League is very important," Emery told journalists at Tuesday's pre-match news conference. "We are currently top of the group. In order to stay there, it is important that we win here.

"We are only thinking about ourselves. We have to be focused on putting in a good performance, taking all three points and continuing to progress. We want all PSG fans at Parc des Princes to enjoy the spectacle and that all of the players give their best on the pitch."

Celtic have the potential to be tricky customers on Wednesday, especially if the hosts gets complacent after their 5-0 win in Glasgow.

However, the prospect of putting themselves firmly ahead of Bayern before their final encounter should be sufficient motivation.

Emery praised the Scottish giants' international pedigree and winning mentality from their domestic dominance. He also stressed the need for his players to "respect" Brendan Rodgers' men -- perhaps wary of the potential to slip up.

"Celtic are a great team," said the Basque tactician at Parc des Princes. "They possess lots of internationals and they are used to winning matches. This game will obviously be difficult.

"We will speak as a group. It is important that we take all three points, respect our opponents and maintain our level of performance from the last few matches. I want to see collective spirit, high quality football and a 90-minute showing.

Our goal is to respect our opponents and to continue to make progress individually and collectively."

Considering their displays against Celtic in Scotland, Bayern in Paris and home and away against Anderlecht, PSG will not need to be at their best to stick plenty of goals past the "Bhoys".

A draw would not be a disastrous scenario but it would undo a lot of the hard work done so far in the group stage. It would also put the team under greater pressure going into that potentially decisive Bayern clash, where a draw or a defeat really would have consequences.

Having had most of the work done for them in last weekend's 4-1 home win over Nantes in Ligue 1, PSG have no excuse for any laziness against Celtic.

Neymar, who faded out of the win over Les Canaris at times, should view this match as a chance to replenish his confidence after having every aspect of his life -- private and professional -- dissected in recent weeks.

Mbappe will be fresh after sitting out the Nantes win as an unused substitute, and Cavani simply cannot stop scoring goals at present, so there is potential for PSG's fearsome front three to do some serious damage.

Emery has picked his squad from almost a full complement of players, with only Thiago Motta really missing from the group. Even Motta's absence is something that the likes of teammates Adrien Rabiot, Marco Verratti and Julian Draxler are used to now. That gives Emery the ability to change things up if he sees fit or go with his strongest XI.

Either way, PSG will be expected to get the job done and the really should. Not only are they more than strong enough to beat Celtic, they have come too far to throw away a potentially perfect group stage.

They will not need to be firing on all cylinders to get past Celtic. But if they do that, then the pressure on them in Munich will be less and their chances of acting, and not just looking, the part of Champions League favourites will be even greater.

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