Mauricio Pochettino believes his Paris Saint-Germain side are beginning to click into gear ahead of their meeting with Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League.
PSG were without Lionel Messi, Marco Verratti and Sergio Ramos against Montpellier Hérault SC on Wednesday, but Idrissa Gueye in particular stepped up to the plate, hitting a stunning opener before Julian Draxler added gloss to the scoreline late on.
"I don't know if it's the perfect night but it's a good night with these three points won," Pochettino said of his side's 2-0 win. "Eight wins in eight matches. It's a good way to prepare for Manchester City's visit in a competition, the Champions League, which is very important for the club and against a very strong opponent."
Paris are yet to beat City in European competition, losing to them in the knockout stages of the Champions League in 2016 and 2021. They made the final in 2020, however, and Pochettino is optimistic they could go one better this year.
"In general, over time it's normal that we improve in all areas," he said. "The team was defensively stronger today. We can't compartmentalise the team, it's a whole. The team showed defensive strength in every line. We're under construction, but it takes time to continue to progress. In attack, we know that we must improve."
Messi's return should help to that end. The Argentine legend has 120 career goals in the Champions League and the club are optimistic he will recover from a knee injury in time. Less certain is who will be in goal between Keylor Navas and Gianluigi Donnarumma.
"As I said before, we'll decide before the match who will be the goalkeeper," Pochettino concluded.
