PSG desperate to join Chelsea at top table - but the man they need to get them there was in the

Football teams, though, are not judged every day, but in those few games each season when the lights go up and the world tunes in.

This was the first half of Paris Saint-Germain’s third knock-out shot at one of Europe’s super-clubs since the Qatari takeover in 2011. To gain entry into that set, as PSG so desperately want to do, first they must claim one of their scalps.

In so many ways, PSG are already there. Last night their team was almost unimaginably expensive, containing two players – David Luiz and Edinson Cavani – who each cost more than £50 million. The VIP areas at the Parc des Princes were upgraded and expanded last year just for nights like this, and Sir Alex Ferguson, David Beckham and Nicolas Sarkozy were all in attendance. (Jay Z and Beyonce, who watched them beat Barcelona in the group stage, were not.)

And yet there is a type of credibility that can only be won on the pitch. Until PSG can knock out a team like Chelsea or Barcelona, they will not be seen as they want to be. That is why Atletico Madrid, with far fewer resources, have earned far more respect.

Last night, with all of this in mind, PSG did raise their game. They were better defensively than they have been for much of the season, limiting Chelsea to almost nothing beyond Branislav Ivanovic’s goal. In midfield, David Luiz played with uncharacteristic maturity and their endless aimless passing cycles were replaced by something more direct and effective.

But for all the improvements, the focus and the energy, Paris conceded a goal, drew the game and now need a desperately unlikely Stamford Bridge win if they are to go through. This, then, was another nearly performance, another falling short of the high required standard despite a year of work to get there. PSG were not as incisive as they were in the 3-1 defeat of Chelsea in last year’s quarter-final. Nor were they as powerful or dogged as when they drew 2-2 with Barcelona there at the same stage in 2013, back when they had Beckham in midfield and Carlo Ancelotti in the dug-out.

For a side who are lingering in third in Ligue 1, though, it was an improvement of sorts and PSG were justifiably impressed with their work afterwards. Thiago Silva said that they played very well and deserved to win, David Luiz said that only Thibaut Courtois denied them defeat while president Nasser al-Khelaïfi – who watched the game sat between Sarkozy and Michel Platini – was delighted.

“I am very happy with the quality of play and the level of the team,” al-Khelaifi said. “The context was not easy for us after our match against Caen on Saturday [in which an injury-ravaged PSG blew a 2-0 lead and finished with nine men on the pitch]. I am very proud of our players, our coach and our fans.”

Given PSG’s poor form, their injuries, and the frustrations of a difficult season this draw felt, if not like a vindication for Laurent Blanc then at least like a mark of stabilisation. But the story of Blanc’s two seasons in Paris has been too much like this, taking this time up to the point of expectations but no further. They won Ligue 1 last year and while they could well retain it this year they are currently third.

Blanc was only offered the PSG job in 2013 after it had been turned down by better managers and it is impossible to shake the sense that only when they improve on Blanc will PSG fulfil their potential.

The man they want most, of course, was sat in the opposition dug-out on Tuesday night. PSG tried to appoint Jose Mourinho in 2011 and again in 2013, flying the then Real Madrid manager out to Qatar to persuade him to join. The L’Equipe website ran a fantasy story entitled ‘If Mourinho managed PSG…’ before the game, imagining him transforming Zlatan Ibrahimovic, scoring more goals and re-awakening the Parc des Princes crowd.

It was funny but it also felt true. For all the quality that PSG have, the simple fact of Ligue 1 means that their natural standard will not be as high as the top teams from England, Germany and Spain. Not unless they can find a coach with the intensity of Mourinho – or Pep Guardiola or Diego Simeone – who can take them to the next level.

To join the top table PSG must beat one of them. And to do that they may have to take one of their managers.