Goals, spectacle, intensity, technical accuracy rarely observed in the elite of French football. This PSG-Strasbourg (3-3) opening the ball of the 8th day of Ligue 1 clearly met the expectations of football lovers. With an average age of 22 years and 78 days at kick-off, the second lowest since 1947/48, the 22 players starting at the Parc des Princes reminded the whole world that the French championship remained more competitive than ever.
Zabarnyi suffered against Panichelli
Yes, but here it is, if certain individuals (Barco, Panichelli, Barcola, Zaire-Emery) clearly stood out from the crowd, others completely missed the mark, like Illia Zabarnyi and Lucas Beraldo. Aligned in the axis of the Parisian defense, the two central defenders completely missed their game. Caught in the air on Strasbourg's equalizer signed by Joaquín Panichelli (26th), the Ukrainian international (53 caps, 3 goals) showed a worrying fragility.
Little helped by Senny Mayulu, established in a new role as right-back, the Ile-de-France number 6 experienced a real ordeal against the Alsatian attackers. Often dominated in the duel, hampered by the liveliness of the RCSA offensives and too slow in his movements, the 1m89 right-hander was still catching a cold on the visitors' third goal. Coming out in front of Diego Moreira after a clumsy restart from his defense friend, the kyiv native let Panichelli slip behind his back and could only see the damage (49th).
Beraldo still too crumbly
In great pain, the summer recruit of the reigning European champions, credited with a 3 by the FM editorial team, finally took advantage of the entry into play of Willian Pacho to find some peace of mind. A match to forget, just like that of his defense friend, Lucas Beraldo. First dropped in the duel in front of Panichelli (10th), the Brazilian failed too often in this meeting, particularly in the face of the vivacity of Enciso (32nd). Not very reassuring, he even committed the irreparable on the Alsatians' third goal.
Guilty of a clumsy delivery on Moreira, he allowed the visitors to make the break (49th). A blunder finally made up for by the achievements of Gonçalo Ramos, from the penalty spot, and Senny Mayulu, at the end of the match, but which will not make us forget the defensive fragility of the Parisians this Friday evening. “It’s true that in the second half, we must not concede this goal”admitted Lucas Hernandez, also disappointing, at the Ligue1+ microphone.
And to add: “we concede goals that we normally shouldn't concede, we have to be more solid than that. If we want to fight for this championship, sometimes we have to be a little more aggressive. But, there you go, it’s football, they had a good match. Unfortunately, we only managed a draw, but we wanted the victory of course.”. Weighed down by its defense, Paris Saint-Germain, still provisionally leader of the French championship, will now have to hope for missteps from OM and OL to maintain the lead. One thing is certain, Marquinhos and Willian Pacho have, for the moment, nothing to worry about…
