Paris Saint-Germain conceded its first setback of the season this Friday against OGC Nice, opening the 5th day of Ligue 1 (2-3).
Although there may be an air of return to school, summer is not over in Paris. And this observation is not limited to the stifling heat of this month of September. Behind the scenes, too, PSG has completed the last files of an off-season which resembles a small revolution.
A face, that of Marco Verratti, symbolizes a change of era. Shipped to Qatar at the start of the week, the little Italian could not leave Paris without looking back, like Messi or Neymar. We don’t draw a line under more than a decade like that. But he still had a pinched face and moist eyes as he greeted one last time an audience that he had enchanted for so long. A strong, touching and powerful image, before the green rectangle regains its rights.
After two exciting successes against Lens (3-1) and Lyon (4-1), the Parisians returned to Ligue 1 with full confidence and their legs a little cut by this international break. Marco Asensio on the flank, Luis Enrique had relied on Gonçalo Ramos to occupy the axis of the Parisian attack. Above all, Kylian Mbappé, uncertain after being spared by Didier Deschamps in Germany on Tuesday, was there. The world champion started alongside his friend Ousmane Dembélé.
Mbappé still decisive, Nice carried by Moffi
Tactically, this PSG-Nice opposed two game projects comparable in broad terms. If the Gym, which also changed coaches this summer, obviously does not have the strike force of the Parisians, the Riviera team achieved the perfect match to carry out its intentions. With strong pressure from the start and a desire to confiscate the leather, Paris first put its paw on this meeting. This territorial domination still had to be materialized. And in this little game, PSG was less efficient than in its last outings.
It was even the Aiglons who struck first, to everyone’s surprise. Moffi showered the Park with a shot at the near post which surprised Donnarumma (0-1, 21st). The Nice center forward will have done very badly with each rapid attack. It was he who made an offering to Laborde for Nice’s second goal (1-2, 53rd). It was he, again, who concluded a new solo counterattack, with a touch of luck, before attracting the wrath of the Park by upsetting the Italian goalkeeper (1-3, 68th).
The lesson, for this PSG, is also that Kylian Mbappé cannot take care of everything. In an exclusive finisher register, the Bondy prodigy was exceptional, scoring a new double – his third in a row – to bring his total to 7 pawns in just over 3 matches since the start of the season.
His clinical strike (1-1, 29th) and his acrobatic recovery on a serve from Kolo Muani (2-3, 87th) startled the audience at the Park. But a creator was missing. And precision for his attack accomplices – Ousmane Dembélé in the lead. By conceding this first setback of the season, Luis Enrique’s young students confirm that they still have work to do, while the first passes are taking shape on the horizon. The rest promises to be instructive.
