PSG missed out on its first big meeting of the season. Traveling to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening, to challenge Arsenal, author of 5 clean sheets in their last 6 games in the competition, the reigning French champions have, in fact, suffered the law of the London club (0-2), carried by Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka. Overwhelmed in intensity, suffering greatly on the defensive level, struggling in the midfield and generally uninspired, the Parisian team has, moreover, shown a certain helplessness around the opposing surface.
An outdated and harmless defensive trio
Symbol of this glaring offensive lack? The performances provided by Bradley Barcola, Kang-In Lee and Désiré Doué, preferred to Randal Kolo Muani and Marco Asensio in the absence of Ousmane Dembélé. Aligned at the forefront of the Ile-de-France attack for this European clash, the three men largely disappointed. Expected to be the main danger of the Parisian collective, Barcola – author of 6 goals in 8 matches since the start of the season and sparkling against Rennes last weekend – has never weighed. Perfectly controlled by Jurrien Timber, then Riccardo Calafiori after returning from the locker room, PSG number 29 finally missed out.
Credited with a 3.5 by the FM editorial team, the French international (7 caps, 1 goal) has never found himself in a real favorable position. When was this the case? William Saliba intervened to calm his enthusiasm. A performance that was far too timid for the native of Lyon who only won 30% of his duels (3/10), scored no shots and lost 18 balls. In his wake, Kang-In Lee also had all the difficulty in the world to escape from the intense pressing of the Gunners. First lined up as a false number 9 – a position he had brilliantly occupied against Rennes – the South Korean finally found his right side in the second half. For a return, again, far too insufficient.
Dembélé’s absence does not explain everything
If he did try to wake up his people – not hesitating to take his chance from afar to ask David Raya – the native of Incheon generally failed: 1 small duel won out of 9 disputed, 3 successful crosses in 8 attempts, 12 lost balls… Finally, for his first start in C1 with his new club, Désiré Doué was also clearly overwhelmed by events. Non-existent on his side and caught up in the physical combat (2 small duels won out of 8), the former Rennais, who received a score of 3, was never able to make the difference (9 lost balls, a small successful dribble). Replaced by Randal Kolo Muani, equally disappointing in the last half hour of play, Doué also summed up the Parisian offensive difficulties in recent weeks.
Indeed, if PSG only accumulated 0.31 xG this Tuesday evening, its lowest total of Expected Goals in a match in all competitions under Luis Enrique, the Rouge et Bleu did not score a single goal during their last 81 shots (the goal against Girona being a CSC from the goalkeeper). Mute in front of goal in 3 of its last 4 matches in the Champions League, the club from the French capital is clearly marking time in this sector. Enough to relaunch the debates around the last summer transfer window and the strategy adopted by Luis Campos and his teams. Enough to also prove the Ile-de-France limits, especially when a talent such as Ousmane Dembélé is missing. Questioned at a press conference after this first failure of the season, Luis Enrique – singled out for his choices – preferred to retain the superiority of the Gunners.
“I believe that the match in terms of intensity was high with Arsenal very aggressive in pressing and much superior in the first half. From 2-0, the match changes. They were a little higher and we were lower. We were not up to the task. They deserved it”underlined the Spanish technician, clearly not decided to explain his tactical choices of the evening… “They won the match in this first period. All teams have strong points and weak points, there were mistakes, we have to play on what we do best. We must do more harm, this has failed. We had too few chances and we must do more than that in the Champions League.added Marquinhos, aware of the shortcomings at this level. A response from PSG is now expected when PSV Eindhoven visits the Parc on October 22 and Atlético de Madrid on November 6…
