The statistic is as frightening as it is evocative. Tuesday evening, on the lawn of the Allianz Arena, Manuel Neuer, last defense of Bayern Munich, completed more dribbles (1) than Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé combined (0). A piece of data summarizing, in itself, the nightmare experienced by the two Parisian wingers on Bavarian soil. Aligned on the front of the Ile-de-France attack, the two offensive leaders of the Rouge et Bleu, unable to tear themselves away from transparency, have, in fact, completely failed. What can we say, in this respect, about the new insipid performance delivered by the former talent of Olympique Lyonnais.
Credited with a poor 2 by the FM editorial team, Parisian number 29 wandered like a lost soul throughout this shock before giving way to the returning Gonçalo Ramos (72nd). Incapable of creating the slightest difference – except this beautiful sequence to offset Ruiz on the Zaire-Emery opportunity (29th) – very little found by his partners and imprecise on his rare ball catches, the 1m82 right-hander finally offered a very quiet evening to Konrad Laimer and his defense companions. With 2 small duels won out of 6 contested, 10 lost balls and no shots attempted, the French international with 11 caps (2 goals) once again showed his limits on the European scene.
Barcola invisible, Dembélé imprecise and nervous
A current glass ceiling also visible in the figures since the native of Lyon has only scored one small goal in 15 appearances in the Champions League. Silent during major events, the 22-year-old Habs, despite being so brilliant in Ligue 1, still does not seem to have found the trigger. In his wake, Ousmane Dembélé also disappointed in great ways. Alternating between a usual right winger role and a more central position, the ex-FC Barcelona player generally missed everything. Although he will remain one of the only Parisians to have tried his luck, his offensive efficiency has, once again, been problematic. Author of a first crushed strike (20th), he then found Neuer on another too timid attempt (32nd). Technically imprecise (9 lost balls, 4 successful passes out of 11, 2 shots on target out of 5), the number 10 of the reigning French champions finally lost his composure.
Already warned of a yellow card for protest during the first act, he left his team outnumbered shortly before the hour mark for a tackle on Alphonso Davies that was more spectacular than violent (56th). “A nightmare evening, marked by constant waste and bad choices”noted in this regard The Teamgiving him a score of 2. A score almost similar to that of our editorial staff (2.5), proving the difficulties encountered by the 27-year-old Frenchman near Munich. Abandoned by its two attacking leaders, PSG finally logically surrendered. 26th and more than ever under pressure before playing three finals against Salzburg, Manchester City and Stuttgart, the capital club is now awaiting a reaction from its attacking duo to continue dreaming…
