Big Midweek: PSG v Man City, Hazard, Man Utd, Arteta v Emery

PSG against City in the Champions League semis is a proper thigh-rubber, while United and Arsenal face season-defining ties…

Game to watch – PSG v Manchester City
Not one for the purist perhaps as Qatar takes on Abu Dhabi in their oil-fuelled race to a Champions League title, but it’s all rather quaint really. All that money between PSG and City and the one thing they most covet cannot be bought. Not directly, at least. Not anymore. We don’t think. We hope not…

PSG will probably win their domestic league and City certainly will, while both clubs have enjoyed some domestic cup success too. But all that will feel like little consolation to whichever side falls at the final hurdle before Istanbul.

When the stakes are this high, it would be reasonable to fear a cagey encounter with both sides sh*t-scared of failure. But neither PSG nor City, Pochettino nor Guardiola, seem capable of playing it cool. Even in the first leg. This should be at least 120 minutes of white-knuckle, brown-trouser action. And even da yoot are here for it, Florentino.

To go out now would waste a lot of very fine work on PSG’s part. Since edging through the group stage – bundling out Manchester United as they went – Pochettino’s side have outclassed Barcelona and Bayern Munich, really turning it on away from home. But City are better than Barca and probably better than this season’s Bayern. This tie will surely be the season’s hardest for PSG, even if they reach the final.

The same goes for City. However much Pochettino has overthought this encounter, double it for Pep. But there’s little either manager can really do to mitigate their opponent, not without curtailing their own strengths. The firepower in both attacks, coupled with the glitches in either rearguard, will hopefully make both Pep and Poch think ‘f*ck it’ and they’ll go at each other like Hagler and Hearns from the off.

Man City 1-0 Tottenham: 16 Carabao Cup final conclusions

Player to watch – Eden Hazard
The ex-Chelsea star will be rather happier to receive his former club on Tuesday than Florentino Perez might be if the Real Madrid president is still hell-bent on making the Super League snakes stick to their grubby agreement. But relations are far more cordial between Hazard and Chelsea, with the Belgian still loved by the Blues, not only for his achievements at Stamford Bridge, but also the way in which he eventually left.

Since then, it’s all gone horribly wrong for Hazard. The £130million star has managed only 15 appearances this season after just 22 last term amid a series of injuries. When he has been fit enough to feature, Hazard has set neither the Bernabeu nor Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano alight, with only four goals and seven assists to his name so far.

But Zinedine Zidane thinks Hazard is finally ready to ‘push on’ and some familiar company could help the winger endear himself to his new supporters, who are yet to see what all the fuss is about.

They were given a glimpse on Saturday during Real’s potentially-costly stalemate with Real Betis. Hazard featured for only the last 13 minutes but still created more chances than any other player.

Zidane said that ‘nothing was bothering’ Hazard fitness-wise so he could well feature from the start in his first Champions League appearance since October. Or, having made an impact from the bench on Sunday, Zidane may rely on Hazard for the same again as Chelsea look to extend their unbeaten away record under Thomas Tuchel.

Super League saga Winners and Losers

Managers to watch – Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta
The last thing Arteta needs right now is for Arsenal’s season to be ended by their much-maligned former manager. But that is the opportunity that lays before Emery and his Villarreal side in the coming week.

Emery is a nice bloke so doubtless he will dismiss pre-match the desire for revenge, but privately, the Gunners’ ex-boss will be gasping for it. At least he should be. There are still plenty of players in Arteta’s squad who let the Spaniard down before he was axed 18 months ago and through the smiles and bonhomie on Thursday, Emery will surely be baying for blood in the Santi Cazorla derby.

And Arsenal, as always, are vulnerable. The very-Arsenal defeat to Everton on Friday night amid protests against the KSI ownership was Arteta’s 79th game in charge, one more match than Emery was afforded. Arteta will emphasise some signs of progress; Emery could point to his superior record.

Emery won 43 of his games in charge and left the Emirates with a 55.1% win ratio. Arteta has won 40 of his matches and takes a 50.6% win ratio to Spain on Thursday.

But, thoroughly decent chap that he is, Emery say he holds no grudges. “I think it’s a good marriage: Arteta-Arsenal, Arsenal-Arteta,” he told UEFA’s website. And he recognises what his successor is trying to do: “Arteta is putting his stamp on things. In the way that they play, it is easy to identify that he’s bringing back that Arsenal tradition of playing attractive football.”

That said, Emery appears more likely than Arteta to be taking his team into Europe next season. Emery knows how to win the Europa League having already done it three times, while Villarreal are well-placed to qualify through their league position if he fails to make it four.

For Arsenal, though, this is it. Arteta’s eggs are all piled in the Europa basket but they will be splattered across his face if he is tripped up by his predecessor in the coming week.

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Team to watch – Manchester United
Despite making progress in the Premier League, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also faces a potentially season-defining week in charge of United as they prepare to take on Roma either side of the visit of Liverpool on Sunday.

As unpalatable as it might be, Solskjaer could stomach a defeat to Liverpool on the basis that it shouldn’t damage United’s league standing as much as dent their pride. Losing a semi-final – another one – would have rather more tangible consequences.

Solskjaer needs a trophy but even before that, the manager has to put his semi hoodoo to bed. United have reached four on his watch – in three competitions – and lost all of them.

Beating Roma over two legs would represent the next step in United’s development under Solskjaer and would give them the opportunity to immediately take another by winning their first trophy since the Europa League four years ago.

Winning it perhaps might not prompt as much credit for Solskjaer as failure would provoke further criticism. And for all the manager talks about not needing trophies as evidence of progress, silverware in Gdansk next month would certainly take some of the heat off ahead of yet another huge summer.

But Roma are hardly pushovers and familiar faces return to Old Trafford keen to prove a point. Jose Mourinho sold Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but the Armenian faces a dream scenario of beating both his most recent former clubs if Roma go on to secure their first ever European trophy. It was Solskjaer, though, who deemed Chris Smalling surplus to requirements, despite United’s lack of a top-class partner for Harry Maguire. The centre-half returned from injury at the weekend and it will likely be his job to shackle Edinson Cavani as United look to build up a lead to defend in Rome next week.

EFL game to watch – Brentford v Rotherham
If Chelsea v Real Madrid is a bit too Super Leaguey for you, then the Championship has you covered on Tuesday night.

Not much can change at the top of the table, with the promoted teams and those in the play-offs already decided and only the order of the top two and the following four left to fight over. Brentford can give themselves a four-point cushion over the other Premier League hopefuls with two games to go if they beat Rotherham at home.

The Millers, though, are fighting for their lives. They currently occupy the final relegation spot but despite being four points off 21st place, Paul Warne’s men have their fate in their own hands, with two games in hand over Wayne Rooney’s Derby, who shot themselves in the foot at home to Birmingham on Saturday.

In contrast to Derby – who have one win in 13 – Rotherham are showing some fight, but still they have lost their last four, even if only by a single goal each time. And Barnsley’s shouldn’t have been allowed to stand on Saturday.

Rooney is already panicking while he fails to stop the Rams rot. A change of fortune for Rotherham on Tuesday night will have him squirming even harder.

European game to watch – Barcelona v Granada
The title race in Spain sh*t its bed again this weekend, with Atletico Madrid losing and Real being held either side of Barca beating Villarreal.

All of which all means Barca can climb to the summit for the first time this season if they beat eighth-placed Granada at the Nou Camp in their game in hand over their title rivals.

Lionel Messi probably didn’t see himself playing the warm-up slot for Mbappe, Neymar and De Bruyne but kicking off at 6pm on Wednesday, Barca’s big game serves as a very tempting appetiser before PSG v City.