Reigning French and European champions, Paris Saint-Germain love being first in class. Leader of the Ligue 1 ranking, the capital club was also the leader of the Champions League ranking before the start of the 4th day of C1, after three victories in as many matches. But this evening, the Rouge et Bleu passed a new XXL test. After the match in Barcelona (2-1), the Parisians this time welcomed Bayern Munich, their runner-up in C1, also the author of a flawless performance. A real steamroller presented itself at the Parc des Princes, since the Bavarians remained on fifteen consecutive victories, in all competitions combined. For this meeting, Vincent Kompany had also brought out a classic starting eleven with his offensive armada (Olise, Gnabry, Diaz and Kane). For his part, Luis Enrique had to do without Illia Zabarnyi (suspended) and Désiré Doué (injured). Which did not prevent him from fielding a classic eleven with his usual starters and Ousmane Dembélé, an uncertain time. Note, however, that João Neves started the match on the bench, replaced by Warren Zaire-Emery. The last club to bring down Bayern (in the quarter-final of the Club World Cup last July, editor’s note), was PSG going to repeat its performance?
Unsurprisingly, the two teams showed their desire to have control of the leather by carrying out heavy pressing from the start. A small game ensuring the spectacle and a very open start to the match. However, the slightest mistake could be paid for in cash. And faced with these invincible and clinical Munich players at the start of the season, the Parisians learned it the hard way. On a deep pass from Pacho, Mendes missed his control in the heart of the game and triggered a series of negative events. Served by Gnabry, Olise lost his duel against Chevalier, but Diaz was there to take over and open the scoring (0-1, 4th). Dominated, Paris had the opportunity at times to pose the danger in front of Neuer’s goal, but each time, it came through too rare exploits on the sides. Barcola was very restless, but uninspired in front of the zone of truth (14th). We had to wait until the quarter of an hour into the game to get the first shot on target from the Ile-de-France region. It was signed by Ruiz, but Kvaratskhelia was flagged offside (15th). Stifled, taken very high and enormously hampered in their restarts, PSG saw Bayern develop the game they were supposed to play. A frustration which annoyed more than one on the pitch, especially as the European champions loved to put themselves in danger by missing easy passes, like this full-axis throw-back from Barcola which led to a strike from Pavlovic blocked by Pacho (17th). Established despite doubts about his hamstrings, Dembélé went through the first twenty minutes like a ghost. Not 100%, he was never able to accelerate, suggesting that the choice of Luis Enrique was not going to pay off. And it was verified a few minutes later as his complicated evening ended in a nightmare.
Luis Diaz changed everything
When equalizing by deflecting a cross shot from Ruiz (22nd), the Parisian number 10 knew he was offside, and rightly so. Paris failed to come back to score against the run of play and its Ballon d’Or had to give up its place immediately to Kang-in Lee. A relapse is logically to be feared, just like his package in Lyon next weekend. Meanwhile, the Bavarians continued their demonstration. Stronger in all the duels, exceptional on the counter, the Germans set fire to the Parisian defense, as well as a spectator Knight on the double post of Gnabry (31st) and the break goal synonymous with a double for Diaz (0-2, 32nd). A goal once again coming from a gross restart error. And this time, the culprit was Marquinhos. The Brazilian was blocked by the Colombian when he had plenty of time to clear. Stunned, PSG only had crumbs to eat like this shot from Barcola stopped by Neuer (30th) or this shot from Ruiz off target (43rd). A terrible observation for the Parisian attackers, physically eaten alive by the muscles of the Bavarian defense. For many Ile-de-France residents on the ground, it was long before this first period ended. Unfortunately, the nightmare was not over. Shaken like never before for the first time this season, the L1 leader blew when Stanisic was flagged offside after his goal (45th), but he saw Hakimi come off injured during stoppage time after a nasty tackle from behind by Diaz, the man of this match. Hit in the ankle and left in tears, the Moroccan joined Dembélé and Doué in the infirmary and we risk not seeing him again soon while the Bayern players were complaining about the referee and wondering why Diaz had been excluded. This umpteenth injury on the Parisian side is in any case a real blow for Hakimi, PSG, even Morocco with the CAN approaching. Bruised by this event, the Parisians could have drunk the chalice to the dregs if Chevalier had not made one of his first saves of the match against Kane (45th + 8).
After this nightmarish first period for PSG, but eleven against ten, we wondered how Luis Enrique’s men would react. Outnumbered, the Bavarians immediately sought to gain time on each throw-in, which earned Neuer a yellow card in the first minutes of this second act. Now grouped in a low block, the visitors were no longer playing the game and gave back a taste of Ligue 1 before its time to Parisians so often accustomed to this kind of configuration on weekends. Result: as in L1, the Rouge et Bleu had all the difficulty in the world to destabilize this low block. Faced with Germans who were excellent and collective in their defensive tasks, Paris only offered blocked long shots or too many technical inaccuracies, like Barcola who performed too messily in a C1 match. The former Lyonnais ended up being replaced by Ramos shortly after the hour mark (66th). Dominant in terms of ball possession, the Ile-de-France residents turned into handball players on the edge of the opposing area, circulating the ball from left to right without being dangerous. On his sidelines, however, Kompany was far from satisfied, fearing something to the contrary. And the Belgian was right. If Neuer was able to repel the attempts of Kvaratskhelia (65th), Vitinha (68th) and Zaire-Emery (78th), the emblematic Bayern goalkeeper ended up giving in to the repeated attacks of the Parisians. Entering the game in the 66th minute, Neves took eight minutes to reduce the score by victoriously taking home a cross from Lee (1-2, 74th). A goal which had the merit of waking up and electrifying the Park. The Portuguese midfielder could have had a dream entry if his header had hit the mark six minutes later (80th). The end of the match was logically one-sided, unfortunately for PSG, Bayern folded, but never broke, helped by an annoying Neuer when putting the ball back into play, but still just as decisive on attempts by Vitinha (86th) and Kvaratskhelia (87th). Paris lost for the first time this season in C1 (1-2) and temporarily fell to third place in the ranking. But this evening, Luis Enrique’s men, in addition to thinking about their injured, know that their awakening was mainly linked to a Bayern reduced to ten. For its part, the German club scored a 16th consecutive success and became leader.
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The general classification of the Champions League
