Paris Saint-Germain director Leonardo appears to have hinted at Mauricio Pochettino’s future lying away from PSG in the summer following the sides loss to Real Madrid.
Pochettino had masterminded a strong performance in the first 135 minutes of the two-legged affair between PSG and Real Madrid, with his side 2-0 ahead going into the final 45 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeut thanks to a pair of goals from Kylian Mbappe across both games.
However, Karim Benzema’s hat-trick shattered his and PSG’s hopes of getting to the quarter-finals as the Frenchman pounced on a catalogue of defensive errors to condemn the French league leaders to a 3-2 defeat.
This has once again stoked the flames under rumours Pochettino will be leaving the club, with club director Leonardo appearing to hint at him being sacked by the summer.
As quoted by Fabrizio Romano, he told RMC Sport: “Pochettino is still part of the project for this season.”
PSG director Leonardo to RMC: “We should stay together. Pochettino is still part of the project for this season. It’s not the time to think about that”. ?? #PSG
“We shouldn’t throw everything in the bin. We shouldn’t start from scratch after every loss”, @gffn reports. pic.twitter.com/QX9o0MzUpu
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 9, 2022
While this also indicates the former Tottenham Hotspur boss has his immediate future secure, with Leonardo and fellow director Nasser Al-Khelaifi reportedly more interested in confronting the match officials at least for tonight, it could end up being the result which ultimately shapes whether he will stay in Paris or not.
He has been linked heavily with the Manchester United job, and the result tonight could accelerate this process.
PSG continue to disappoint in Europe despite a strong summer window, coming within touching distance of the trophy just two years ago when they lost to Bayern Munich in the final.
Indeed, there is a mental fragility ingrained in the club which means they have only progressed past the last 16 of the Champions League twice in the past five seasons.