Kenny relishing Paris match
Derry manager Stephen Kenny admits Paris St Germain was the hardest possible UEFA Cup draw for his side but insists the Candystripes will give a good account of themselves against the French giants.
City moved into the first round having beaten fancied Gothenburg home and away and knocked out Gretna 7-3 on aggregate.
Kenny‘s men could also have drawn Panathinaikos, Hertha Berlin, Austria Vienna or Bulgarian side Litex Lovech but now face the prospect of a high-profile clash with the side from the French capital.
The Derry boss, who thinks that as many as 5,000 fans could travel to the Parc des Princes, admits it is another big step up for his side but is not ruling anything out at this stage.
He said: “When we look at the teams that we could have got in our section, Paris St Germain were probably the strongest team in our section so it will be a difficult one for us.
“They are a tremendous club with great pedigree and they have a lot of international players.
“It captures the imagination of Derry and Ireland generally so from that point of view it is great.
“They have lots of players that played in the recent World Cup and players with lots of pedigree but we want to make sure we do well.
“It is too early for us to say because we haven‘t analysed them or looked at videos, so we will have to do that before we can make realistic judgements.”
And Kenny insists his side‘s European exploits already this season will give the Brandywell outfit plenty of hope.
He added: “For us to go and win home and away at Gothenburg and win home and away was really something.
“I can remember Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt when they won 7-3 and I thought you would never see a scoreline like that in Europe again but we beat Gretna 7-3 on aggregate.
“We couldn‘t have envisaged that either so for us to draw Paris St Germain now, it‘s a step up but we‘ve just got to prepare well, do our homework and give ourselves a chance.”
Kenny hopes the home leg is played at the Brandywell, where the capacity would probably be less than 3,000 due to UEFA policies on terracing.
City had a 100% home record before drawing the second leg with Gretna, but Kenny accepts a number of other factors will need to be considered before a decision is reached.
