The preparation continues for Paris Saint-Germain and takes on an Asian accent. After a first 2-0 victory against Le Havre, the Parisians challenged the Saudis of Al-Nassr at the Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan. A Japanese tour where Luis Enrique opted for a 4-3-3 with Donnarumma in the cages behind Hakimi, Skriniar, Danilo and Hernandez. Placed as a sentry, Ndour was accompanied by Vitinha and Zaire-Emery. Finally, Soler, Asensio and Lemina formed the attacking trio. For his part Al-Nassr established himself in a 4-4-2 with Konan in defense, Fofana and Brozovic in the midfield and a Ronaldo-Talisca duo in front.
Very quickly, Paris Saint-Germain obtained a corner where Soler’s cross forced Al-Aqidi to intervene (2nd). Well into their match, the Ile-de-France club took control of operations and tried to go through the sides. On the left, Lemina struck, but his shot was caught by Al-Aqidi (10th). A first real alert from the young Parisian who stood out again a few minutes later on a nice serve from Zaire-Emery. However his shot from the left was pushed back (23rd). On a tumble on the left side, Hernandez then crossed towards the far post, but Ndour’s volley was blocked (37th).
PSG too shy in front
Dominated, Al-Nassr nevertheless ended this first act with more edge. Found by Talisca, Ronaldo placed a good recovery, but Donnarumma stood out with a good save (40th). The Portuguese even attempted a return which did not find the target, but he was offside anyway (45th). Like his teammates Fofana and Brozovic, the Portuguese showed interesting dispositions. When they returned from the locker room, Paris Saint-Germain tried again to show themselves via Lemina, but Soler’s cross which followed did not find a taker (46th).
The pace remained quite low between two teams and Ronaldo came out when PSG launched Housni, Marquinhos, Ugarte, Bernat, Gharbi, Kurzawa, Ethan Mbappé or even Verratti. The Parisians got new chances with a shot from Housni which missed the target (67th) and Gharbi also failed to find the fault (69th). On a cross from the left side of Kurzawa, Housni placed a header, but the goalkeeper of Al-Nassr was still impeccable (73rd). On a free kick, Marco Verratti tried to shine in vain (82nd and 86th). Paris Saint-Germain’s efforts were not rewarded and the capital club continued its preparation with a first hitch following this 0-0 draw. Next step Friday with a duel against Cerezo Osaka.
