Pressure building on PSG

With the vultures gathering at Paris Saint-Germain FC, coach Guy Lacombe says only three points will suffice at FK Mladá Boleslav tonight as the club seek to stave off a crisis.

Sinking feeling
Lying in the bottom half of Ligue 1, European football has provided no light relief for PSG this season and coach Lacombe is well aware that anything other than a win in the Czech Republic tonight could bring their campaign to a premature close. "There is only one possible result over there - to take the points," said Lacombe.

Confidence low
It will not be easy against Dušan Uhrin Jr's side, who have already embarrassed one French team in eliminating Olympique de Marseille - the only Ligue 1 club apart from PSG to have won a major European trophy - in the first round. It does not help PSG that confidence is low in the camp. A 0-0 draw at AFC Rapid Bucuresti in their opening Group G game did not look too bad when compared with the catastrophic 4-2 defeat at home against Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC on 23 November.

France shocked
If that the defeat evoked memories of other European lows - such as the 6-0 drubbing against Juventus in the 1996 UEFA Super Cup and a 3-2 1998/99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup reverse at Maccabi Haifa FC - it was put into context by the subsequent death of a supporter outside the stadium, shot by a plainclothes policeman in an incident involving a hooligan mob, which prompted the unveiling of a five-point plan to counter racism and violence.

Pauleta angry
For the PSG squad, meanwhile, the inquest into their on-field troubles stirred strong feelings. "There are some players who do not deserve to wear this shirt," said captain Pauleta. Coach Lacombe - who was appointed last December and led PSG to a seventh French Cup triumph last April - said he was "sorry for all the people who love this team".

'Darkest hours'
Club president Alain Cayzac made no attempt to sugar-coat the situation. "We're not in a crisis. It's far more serious. These are the darkest hours for this side." Yet a 1-1 draw at FC Nantes Atlantique last weekend at least offered a step in the right direction. Despite the departure of a major sponsor, PSG remain a major force in Ligue 1 but the weight of expectation has dogged them in recent seasons. As Czech defender David Rozenhal said: "All our players would be great in another side, but here we're always facing adversity."

Talent unearthed
Lacombe earned a reputation as a great talent-spotter at AS Cannes and FC Sochaux-Montbéliard and he has continued in that vein at PSG, launching the careers of midfielders Clément Chantôme and Youssouf Mulumbu and giving striker David Ngog a chance to impress.

Bad timing
"I could not imagine starting my career anywhere else," said the 19-year-old Chantôme. "Some say it's not the best side and not the best moment to start as a professional but I'm sure the current hard times will help me later." A win or two would surely help also - perhaps starting at Mladá Boleslav tonight.