Marquinhos urges Paris St Germain to seize their chance in Champions League

Paris St Germain captain Marquinhos insists they cannot afford to waste the opportunity of securing a place in the Champions League knockout stages.

The Ligue 1 side face Group F leaders Borussia Dortmund in Germany knowing victory will see them progress as winners, while a draw – providing Newcastle do not beat AC Milan – would be enough to see them through as runners-up.

There is even the fail-safe of a draw on Tyneside putting them through regardless of their own result but Marquinhos wants the team the seize the initiative themselves.

@marquinhos_m5 on #BVBPSG! #UCL

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— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) December 12, 2023

“If I thought this team didn’t have the character to win, I would have stayed at home,” he said.

“This is the type of match that everyone wants to play. Destiny is in our hands.

“It’s the only trophy missing for me here. It’s the dream of many players. We must not let (the chance to win) a trophy go to waste.”

PSG will be without the suspended Ousmane Dembele while a late decision will be made on Goncalo Ramos, who has flu and did not train at Signal Iduna Park.

But head coach Luis Enrique is confident even if the Portugal international does not make it he has enough quality in his squad to inflict Dortmund’s first home Champions League defeat in over two years.

“With the squad I have, it’s always easier to replace an absent player,” he said.

“It will never be an excuse. I will never complain about the absence of a player.”

PSG have yet to win the Champions League, which remains the holy grail for their Qatari owners, but aside from finishing runners-up and semi-finalists in 2019-20 and 2020-21 they have not made it past the last 16 since 2016.

Luis Enrique is the fifth head coach since then to be tasked with winning Europe’s elite club competition but having won it with Barcelona he knows all about high expectations.

“The pressure at PSG is on a daily basis but the preparation for the match remains the same; we will work on the type of football we want to play, the things we want to see happen in the match,” he added.

“I am in a very calm state of mind and with the dream and the hope that we are going to have a great match.

Luis Enrique: “I only remember the positive aspect. We have destiny in our hands in this difficult group. ”#BVBPSG I #UCL I #PSGLive pic.twitter.com/Dljg9a9RdZ

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) December 12, 2023

“We saw the qualities of the opponent (in PSG’s 2-0 win at home) but we also saw that they have difficulty defending.

“We have scored in all our matches in the competition and tomorrow the aim is to try to win.”