Paris St Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino believes he and his staff have what it takes to help the club win their maiden Champions League title one day, despite their recent collapse against Real Madrid.
PSG won the first leg of their last-16 tie 1-0 at home before losing 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu last week in the return leg, another remarkable failure after past meltdowns against Barcelona and Manchester United.
After Pochettino joined more than a year ago, they reached the Champions League semi-finals last season but lost the Ligue 1 title to Lille while showing a lack of character and playing style.
Pochettino, however, is still asking for time.
“We are competitive by nature. This kind of challenge is an exciting one to take on... To give the possibility to fight again for this (Champions League) title, it’s exciting,” the Argentine told a news conference on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s Ligue 1 trip to Monaco.
“Beyond the sadness, to give PSG the possibility to fight to fulfil their objectives is always a great challenge. And yes, we feel capable of it. Afterwards, it’s a question of exchanges. We will have to sit down with the club to exchange. To find the best formula. To see the vision, the future, the ideas, the project.”
Whether Pochettino will be the coach leading PSG to another bid for the Champions League title is anyone’s guess, though, as speculation is mounting that he could be replaced at the end of the season.
“We will analyse everything at the end of the season,” he said. “We will see at the end of the season (if I stay). It will be the club’s decision.”
