Mauricio Pochettino refuses to look beyond Paris Saint-Germain’s end of the season as his future at the club hangs in the balance.
The PSG manager saw his side lose a 2-0 aggregate lead in the final half hour of their Champions League Round of 16 with Real Madrid.
This shocking fall from a dominant position cast doubt on whether Pochettino should be the man to lead another bid for the trophy that the Qatari club’s owners crave above all else.
Pochettino remains haunted by the 3-2 aggregate loss, saying on Saturday it would be “difficult to take that tranquility back to sleep again and from our heads”.
The former Tottenham manager is considered a candidate for the Manchester United job, which is expected to become vacant when caretaker manager Ralf Rangnick makes his way at the end of the season.
But for now, Pochettino says his focus is on delivering a 10th Ligue 1 title to the Parisians. It’s pretty much a done deal, as they arrived this weekend with a 15-point lead over their closest rivals Marseille and Nice.
Pochettino told a press conference ahead of Sunday’s match at Monaco: “It’s not easy to forget what happened in the Champions League, but I think we have to move on and win every game. .
“Of course there is a feeling of sadness about the situation, based on what we have been through. The first disappointment is for the players and for all of us, the fans included.
“There are a lot of things that come into play, but we can use them as motivation to move forward. You can’t stop at football.
“We must continue to compete, we must achieve the objectives that are still available and treat them as a priority. We must win the club’s 10th title in Ligue 1, that is our main objective.”
Pochettino, whose contract runs until the end of next season, added: “As for the future, I only think about today and tomorrow, I don’t think about the long term.
“We have a responsibility to finish this season in the best possible way. We will see what decisions the club will take at the end of the season and how the club wants to plan for the future.”
Pochettino knows that the Champions League is PSG’s ultimate goal. PSG owners Qatar Sports Investments have signed a number of top coaches in their bid to realize that ambition, with Pochettino following Thomas Tuchel, Unai Emery, Laurent Blanc and Carlo Ancelotti in the head coaching role.
It wouldn’t be surprising if they switched to another boss at the end of the current campaign.
“Our intention is to create competitive teams so that we can win. We look at things at the end of the season,” Pochettino said.
“We will see what decisions are made to try to recreate that emotion and motivation to have the competitive team that we need to compete for the highest honors in the world. In this case it is the Champions League, what everyone at Paris Saint-Germain wants.”