Paris Saint-Germain's performance in this year’s Champions League’s group stage has been nothing short of incredible. And now it is also historic.
Marco Verratti’s goal in the 79th minute against Celtic not only put the Ligue 1 giants up 5-1 in the contest but was also the side’s 22nd goal of the group stage to that point.
That broke the old record of 21, set by Borussia Dortmund last year.
What makes it even more impressive is that not only has PSG shattered the record, adding two more goals to their tally on the night in a 7-1 demolition of Celtic, they did it with one matchday remaining.
The only blemish for PSG was that they conceded at all. Celtic’s goal to open the scoring in the contest may have been nothing more than a distant memory by the end, but it was the first time PSG had allowed anything in the group stage.
The goal was also the fastest ever conceded by the French club in UEFA's top competition.
Aside from that early strike, it has been an utterly dominant group stage for PSG, who have simply outclassed Bayern Munich, Anderlecht and Celtic, the other teams in Group B. They have won each game by at least three goals and have a plus-23 goal differential through five games.
Celtic suffered much of the onslaught, losing 12-1 over the two games, and became the victim of PSG’s largest ever home victory in the Champions League in Wednesday’s thrashing.
However, despite their dominance, PSG has not yet locked up the group. Bayern Munich remains three points back with the two sides meeting on the final matchday of the stage on December 5. Not only will Bayern look to avenge a 3-0 defeat at the Parc des Princes, if they can somehow pull off a four-goal win, they would manage to pip PSG for the top spot in the group.
Source : Ben Valentine of Goal.com
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