The first ties of the Champions League knockout stages kicked off on Tuesday: with AS Roma and Paris Saint-Germain taking control of their ties against Porto and Manchester United respectively.

The break from European football only adds to the tension at this time of year and raises the stakes before the spring return of the Champions League.

But then meetings between European football’s super powers under the floodlights in midweek rarely need extra hype.

Then again, hype is very much what you see around the internet in the build-up to these games.

Naturally, journalists cover the action, as do excited fans. But clubs themselves often save their best media work for the biggest games – despite the fact that the highest stakes make for the biggest disappointments.

In previous years, PSG have arguably spent the build-up to big Champions League ties trying too hard – attempting to stimulate ‘banter’ with other clubs or launching campaigns with the aim of garnering engagement or going viral.

This time, they took a different approach – they focused on their own fans:

Goosebumps…????????#ICICESTPARIS pic.twitter.com/DEkPmMEbd7

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) February 13, 2019

You helped make it happen tonight! ❤️????#ICICESTPARIS pic.twitter.com/WAGCMayQja

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) February 12, 2019

Not just in victory, either.

It’s fairly easy to point to your fans after a crucial away victory where the travelling support were heard for most of the game, but this was a theme for PSG for the whole trip – even before they game they were producing some really polished videos focusing on their away support.

????️???? #MUPSG

On the path to victory! ✊????????

Manchester ???? pic.twitter.com/Kksi2kGE0E

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) February 12, 2019

But it’s worth pointing out, too, the live stream that they produced before the game – a creative bilingual take on pre-game coverage.

This is not the first time PSG have done such a live stream. It’s not their first live build up to a game nor their first produced in two languages at the same time. But in line with their quest to grow interest in the club beyond France, the strange concept of a dual language build-up show was once again seen on Tuesday night:

???? Avant match Manchester United – Paris Saint-Germain #MUPSG https://t.co/8EEBNnZLld

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) February 12, 2019

With one presenter speaking in English and the other in French, there’s always a chance that viewers will end up confused rather than enthused, but there’s something about the spectacle that seems to work.

For one thing, it allows those of us elsewhere in the world to sample the build-up from a French point of view – and it does so without presupposing the need to speak the language. There’s enough English in there to make it worthwhile and everything is pretty much said twice, though not exactly translated verbatim.

The Champions League knockout stages are always a great place to see what the world’s biggest football clubs are producing when it comes to media as well as what the teams are doing on the pitch. And PSG are always ones to watch.

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