Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel has kicked off the mind games ahead of his team’s Champions League opener against Liverpool ton Tuesday night (9pm).
With the stakes high in a tough Group C, which includes Napoli and Red Star Belgrade, Tuchel tipped last season’s finalists Liverpool as one of the favourites to lift the trophy at the end of the term.
As he prepares his team ahead of the heavyweight clash at Anfield, the German says: “There are many favourites and Liverpool are one.
“In football, and for me sometimes it’s difficult, we have to understand that there are things that can’t be explained. Things that happen.
“One day, you can have your great win and it allows you to gather momentum.
“That’s the time you have to be most concentrated and not make a mistake. Real Madrid have shown us how it’s done.”
With massive spending on some top talent in recent campaigns, including Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, coach Tuchel believes there are a number of things that must change in order to lead PSG to their first European title.
He says: “It’s very important to have experience in this kind of environment, to have done it. “And PSG miss that, it’s clear. When you don’t have it, you’re maybe more of a challenger than a favourite. We have to change our mentality.
“Of course, PSG have great players. But in the Champions League, you face teams with a great deal of success in this type of trial and we, we must go step by step.”