Zlatan Ibrahimovic has called on his Paris Saint-Germain team-mates to remain focused after scoring twice last night to leave his side on course for the Champions League quarter-finals after their 4-0 win at 10-man Bayer Leverkusen.
"I've played in fantastic teams so difficult to say, you can have a great team, but not win trophies, we need to finish the job first," said 32-year-old Ibrahimovic.
Blaise Matuidi put PSG ahead with barely two minutes gone before Ibrahimovic netted a penalty, then added a second when he unleashed a thunderbolt of a shot. Replacement Yohan Cabaye then added PSG’s fourth.
Ibrahimovic's first then came when referee Viktor Kassai spotted Emir Spahic pulling down Ibrahimovic in the area, booked the defender and awarded the spot-kick, despite furious protests from the Bayer defence. Ibrahimovic slotted the penalty and then gave the guests a commanding lead from just outside the area after Matuidi found Ibrahimovic on the edge of the box and the Swedish star rifled a spectacular first-time shot into the top right corner.
Leverkusen, second only to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, suffered their third straight home defeat as Laurent Blanc’s PSG were rarely troubled at the BayArena with Ibrahimovic the architect of the victory with two goals in three first-half minutes.
The hosts' fortunes did not improve after the break as Spahic was booked again for holding back Lucas and sent off on 59 minutes. Matuidi’s replacement Cabaye then added a fourth with PSG players lining up as the Leverkusen defence was once again breached.
Speaking after the final whistle, Blanc praised the quality of his squad and their performance.
"I have an embarrassment of riches in my team at the moment," said Blanc.
"We rediscovered the football we showed in the group stages, it was better than we played at the start of the year and I was pleased to see it. The players did really well and I have to praise them for the performance.
"We didn't want to give Bayer any self-confidence and we tried to make sure they didn't get any of the ball. We kept trying to push forward even when they started getting physical trying to stop us."
Leverkusen boss Sami Hypia was less impressed with his own side's performance and acknowledged that the visitors were in a class of their own on the night.
"It's not easy to sit here after a performance like that," said the ex-Liverpool defender, whose team have lost their last three home games.
"We played against a good team and to be behind after just three minutes only made it harder. Paris showed how strong they are."
