Normally I would be loathe to bet a team giving up a big handicap start in a match they did not need to win. However, like in the first leg and as we saw from Atletico last night, PSG are a team looking to establish themselves at the very highest level and every performance is the chance to improve,learn something and perhaps more importantly, throw down a marker to the more established major European clubs. PSG have an eight point lead at the top of Ligue 1 and will be able to coast to the title there and I do not think they will be overly concerned about the upcoming domestic fixture.

In addition to the previews on the clubgowi website, you can also sign up to receive further sample previews with the free newsletter, see box to the right of this post. Yesterday, readers on the free list received the Coupe de France notes reproduced below, the red type selection was a winner inside 31 minutes and the chance of Montpellier scoring twice, on offer at 9.0 + was highlighted.

Absolutely no love lost between these two clubs and this is far and away the hottest derby in French football. The hosts would love to win this, three points would take them up above the Parisians and into second place, but they just look a level below both PSG and Monaco and although most teams will come away pointless from Dortmund, the level and manner of the 3-0 midweek defeat and earlier home loss to Arsenal, is a clear indication of where they stand in the bigger European picture.

Paris SG are 8-1-0 in their last nine Ligue 1 starts, where they have enjoyed an average of 60% possession and a 21-1 goal difference, Ibrahimovic has scored eight of those, but I like the fact that eight other players have got on the scoresheet over this sequence.

Valencia are vastly experienced at this level and they are unbeaten in nine home Champions League starts, but they are a bit of a flat track bully at Mestalla and tend to perform less well against the really big name teams.