At Stadio Friuli, PSG has long suffered against a domineering Tottenham, imposing its rhythm and its physical impact. For more than an hour, Parisians seemed to be intended to undergo a first disillusionment, unable to find the keys to return. But a madwoman went back in the last ten minutes to change everything (2-2, Tab 4-3): Paris returned to the score, then won the European Super Cup after a penalty shootout without going through the extension. A victory that strengthens the group's confidence despite a globally contrasting content.
For Warren Zaïre-Emery and Bradley Barcola, this final had the value of a decisive appointment. The two young talents have seen their status as a holder to erode in recent months: Barcola had to deal with the flashy arrival of KHVICHA KVARATSKHELIA, who quickly took the left corridor, while Zaïre-Emery saw his place in the heart of the game nibbled by the explosion of João Neves and the confirmation of Fabián Ruiz. Tonight, Luis Enrique offered them a rare opportunity: to start an issue game together, faced with a prestigious opponent, to prove that they can still weigh in the Parisian hierarchy. An opportunity that they could not afford to let go.
Not a disaster but …
Warren Zaïre-Emery, however holder in an ideal context to assert herself with João Neves absent, Fabián Ruiz on the bench, could not take advantage of it. We saw him curiously exceeded on the physical level, even though he was less requested at the end of last season: “Frankly, I don't know what to say, it's just beautiful. We are in a big club, we win trophies, I am young. How did we manage to find the resources? We knew it was going to be hard. We only had six or seven days of training. We did not give up, we gave everything. It rises the character that this team and the collective that we are. Now you have to continue. It goes up what we are and what we get out of each training, each match. You have to continue like that ”preferred to underline Zaïre-Emery. Its influence in the game has been limited, its impact reduced, and its usual ability to break the lines died in front of the intense pressing of spurs. Less transcendent, less sharp, he let a great opportunity pass hard in the eyes of Luis Enrique and replace himself in the hierarchy. The observation concerning Bradley Barcola is still different.
The old nugget of OL at least had the merit of shaking Tottenham by its speed and calls in the first period. He brought percussion, fire on his corridor, but without real efficiency. In the area of truth, he missed this little something in the last gesture, whether it was the precision of the pass or the lucidity before the goal. As a symbol, the two men were replaced by Kang-in Lee and Ibrahim Mbaye, unleashed at the end of the match and major actors from the Parisian Folle, concluded in penalty shootout (2-2, 4-3). If this evening will leave an unfinished taste for Warren Zaïre-Emery and Bradley Barcola, she does not seal their season. The shortened preparation of PSG, the state of form still perfectible and the context of an early European takeover explain these semi -inted services. With the rhythm of the coming weeks and a workforce called to turn, the two young Parisians will have other opportunities to illustrate and to recall why they were, not so long ago, considered as power holders. The season is just beginning.
