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Cape Town - Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti has dismissed criticism of the club's woeful form, insisting that they have improved from last season.
Les Parisiens have made a terrible start to the Ligue 1 campaign by their usual high standards, having drawn five and won just three of their first eight games.
Comparatively, last season PSG won the league by nine points, losing just three matches, drawing eight and winning 27 of their 38 fixtures, while they crashed out of the Champions League at the last-eight stage on away goals following a 3-3 draw with Chelsea.
However, Verratti believes the club is much better than last season and are capable of moving past the quarter-final stage in the Champions League this time around.
"I think we're stronger," the Italy international told L'Equipe. "We all know each other better than a year ago.
"For the moment we're not playing as well but there were drawn matches, like the one at Rennes, where we created a lot of chances.
"It's true that we're producing some so-so matches. But we're not in crisis. We still haven't lost any games.
"We just have to think about playing better and especially about scoring more goals."
PSG face Barcelona in their second group game of the Champions League at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday following a 1-1 draw with Ajax in their opener.
And Verratti is confident that his side are capable enough to get something from the match and even go on to win the whole competition.
"Barcelona are a very strong team," he added.
"Real Madrid are too but it's hard to win the competition twice in a row.
"After that, there's Bayern Munich and PSG who can challenge for the title."
