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Houllier: PSG had the potential to win the Champions League

Gerard Houllier has claimed that If Paris Saint-Germain had ousted Barcelona from the Champions League, they could have gone all the way in the competition.

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The Parisian team seemed to have one foot in the quarter-finals following a 4-0 first-leg win over Barca, yet they suffered a stunning 6-1 reverse in Camp Nou that saw them crashing out in a thoroughly embarrassing manner.

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Houllier, who also managed Liverpool and Lyon among others, stated that their problem was mental.

“I’m certain that if PSG had gone through, this would have given them a great kick and they could have won the Champions League,” he told L’Equipe.

The 69-year-old, who managed the club between 1985 and 1988, said he felt something was up from the beginning.

“When I saw them in the tunnel, I felt there was fear in their faces. And fear immobilises you,” he said. 

“Barcelona’s media work functioned perfectly: the players said nothing in the first week, then in the second it was: 'You never know, we’ve already scored five against Real Madrid'. Then it became: ‘We’re going to do it', like Luis Suarez in France Football.

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“There is a sort of self-hypnosis on something almost impossible. They built an image in the head of the PSG players. They were all frozen.

“But I also saw Brazil lose four goals in six minutes against Germany in 2014.”

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