After violently falling on the pitch at St. James Park against Newcastle (4-1), two days ago, Paris Saint-Germain opened the doors of its Parc des Princes to AC Milan, this Wednesday evening, with the objective of rebounding effectively and replenishing points in this 3rd day of Group F of the Champions League. For this European shock, the Spanish coach, Luis Enrique aligned his traditional 4-3-3 with the returns of Manuel Ugarte but especially the young Parisian Titi, Warren Zaire-Emery in the PSG midfield. The captain of the France Espoirs team has once again flooded the field with his talent and, what’s more, against a European giant, AC Milan. All in a crucial Champions League match: “I gain confidence in myself, I try things, there will be failures, but there will also be assists”specified the young Parisian in the mixed zone.
Indeed, the darling of the Parc des Princes wasted no time before launching hostilities. From the start of the match, Warren Zaire-Emery was keen to respond to the excess commitments of the Rossoneri, who did not hesitate to install high and intense pressure by committing several quick faults, marked by the warnings of Malick Thiaw (4th ) and Rade Krunic (7th). The Parisian was one of the few in the Rouge et Bleu midfield who didn’t let himself get carried away, showing off his physique in an aggressive manner, while Vitinha and Manuel Ugarte had more difficulty reacting. A proof of maturity and exemplarity on the part of WZE necessary to avoid falling into the Milanese trap set by Stefano Pioli’s players: “A very young player, very mature on the pitch, I knew him well, he has a complete range, he is very strong. A young player who looks like an older player, he’s a very strong player.”explained the latter about the Parisian.
An already decisive player
A record-breaking evening for WZE. Indeed, the Parisian midfielder this evening became the first player in PSG history to celebrate his 20th start in all competitions before turning 18. Beyond the symbol, the Parisian midfielder was breathtaking, doing enormous work on Kylian Mbappé’s opener, even offering an assist to the captain of the Blues: “I’m happy to be man of the match. Afterwards, it’s teamwork, we had fun playing together. We are a team, it shows on the pitch, we make the effort for each other. I’m very tired, but there’s the atmosphere, the audience is pushing. I didn’t play against Strasbourg, I prepared well, that’s two more assists. It’s clear that I had a good match”explained Warren Zaire Emery at the microphone of Canal+
While Didier Deschamps was present at the Park to observe the French players, there is no doubt that Zaire-Emery scored points. He showed a high volume of play with 8 balls recovered, the highest total of the meeting between the two teams combined, and more than 63 balls touched, but also solid defensive and controlled stops like on Yacine Adli (79th). At the end of the match, WZE even delivered a second assist, on PSG’s third achievement by Kang-in Lee. To the delight of Parisian supporters but also of Luis Enrique: “Really impressive, he does everything well even though he’s only 17, he’s a perfect example for kids who want to become professionals, I’m very happy with him. It’s Deschamps’ job, not mine. WZE is a surprising player at 17 years old, he does everything well in defense in attack technical vision of the game, he gives assists”, concluded the Parisian coach at a press conference. The perfect illustration of the expression: to be in the oven and in the mill
