Editorial – Group of death? PSG no longer haunted by their past 👻 | OneFootball

The draw for the 2025/2026 Champions League has reignited an old reflex: at first glance, many cried "group of death," as if the verdict had already been passed. This reading tic is rooted in the collective memory of Parisian supporters, but it no longer matches the current face of the club. PSG is coming off a full and victorious 2024/2025 season and is entering this campaign as the European titleholder. Reality has caught up with the narrative... and it's time to analyze the draw with today's eyes rather than yesterday's fears.

The Fear Pattern: A Clinging Legacy

Foundational Traumas

Fear is not a whim: it has been built on spectacular collapses that have marked the imagination (Barça 2017, United 2019, Real 2022). These dizzying nights have long served as a mental model: at the first setbacks of the schedule or the draw, the mind returns to these wounds.

Selective Memory

Except that this compass is skewed. Our brain amplifies the negative—a well-known negativity bias: failures stick in memory more than successes. Add to that an availability bias: we remember a 6-1 or a comeback more easily than a controlled quarter-final victory. As a result, each tough draw reignites the catastrophe hypothesis, even when contemporary sports indicators say otherwise.

The Shortcut That Traps

This is where the shortcut sets in: difficult draw = danger. Certainly, but danger to be managed, not endured. A danger requires preparation, raising the level, adjusting match plans. It is not a priori condemnation. The right question is not "is it dangerous?" but "what is Paris worth today in the face of this danger?"

PSG 2024/2025: When the Present Defies Old Fears

A Record That Reshuffles the Cards

Last season, Paris did what is expected of great teams: win. Ligue 1, Coupe de France, and especially the Champions League—this status changes how you are played against and how you play yourself. The summer opened with a European Super Cup, another marker of continuity. This PSG is titled, experienced, and accustomed to pressure.

Visible Structural Progress

Luis Enrique has provided a new foundation. Vitinha has confirmed his role as the technical leader, Willian Pacho has stabilized the defense, Achraf Hakimi has regained consistency worthy of his rank, and João Neves has brought maturity to the heart of the game. The team now knows how to transition from high pressing to a mid-block without falling apart and manage its weak phases with prolonged possession sequences.

The Mentality, Finally Solid

Nothing wears out the "fear pattern" more than reversed scenarios with composure. In 2024/2025, Paris showed a new calmness in the final moments of matches, an ability to close out games at the right time. The label of titleholder is not just a symbol: it validates a collective experience at the highest level.

Reading the Draw Differently: A Crash Test That Can Become a Booster

Formidable Opponents... Not Untouchable

Yes, Paris will face top teams in the league phase. But no team is untouchable, and the 8-match format leaves room for maneuver: hold your own against the big teams and capitalize against the others. The roadmap is not utopian for a reigning European champion.

A Challenge That Raises the Standard from Autumn

This type of schedule has a merit: it sets the bar very high immediately. Big matches calibrate intensity and prevent falling into the torpor of an overly easy phase. Paris has often suffered from arriving "cold" in the round of 16: this time, like last year, the team will be plunged into high intensity from the start.

The Parc des Princes Advantage

In this context, the Parc becomes a weapon again. Since 2024/2025, Paris is almost unbeatable there: in Ligue 1 as in the Champions League, the home performance has exceeded 80% victories. More importantly, the Parc has become a place where Paris knows how to "freeze" weak phases, keep possession to lull the opponent, and reignite intensity at the chosen moment.

When the groups are expected to be tight, having a fortress like the Parc, capable of turning European nights into locked-in appointments, is a valuable asset. While discussions focus on PSG's "difficult" away games, let's not forget what the team is capable of.

Breaking Free from the Mental Impasse

Here lies the challenge: no longer reading each difficulty as a repeat of drama, but as a circumstantial test. A tough draw is not a curse; it's an opportunity to verify an already reached level.

3 Telling Figures

Conclusion

The "group of death" is above all a media formula that recycles old anxieties. But this PSG is no longer the one of traumas: it is a European champion, more structured, more mature. The 2024/2025 titles are tangible proof. So, rather than trembling at the draw, it's better to read it as a promise of an epic journey. Because the only real trap is not the opponent: it's continuing to fear one's own shadow.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.