Four matches played. Two scathing defeats against big European fish (Atlético de Madrid and Arsenal). A disappointing draw against PSV Eindhoven. The tasteless victory against Girona acquired in the last moments thanks to a CSC from elsewhere by Paulo Gazzaniga is not enough to resolve the multiple concerns now present in the minds of all Parisian players. After half the calendar has passed, Paris Saint-Germain is now in 25th position, which means that if the championship phase were to end today, the Parisian club would then be eliminated. As a reminder, the first eight teams are automatically qualified for the round of 16, while the clubs classified between 9th and 24th place become play-offs and must therefore go through the round of 16 box. And the schedule looks tense for Luis Enrique’s troops: trip to Bayern Munich, trip to Red Bull Salzburg, reception of Manchester City and trip to Stuttgart. The Top 8 seems a dream bordering on utopia but the play-offs take the form of the last chance.
Questioned at a press conference, Luis Enrique cannot find solutions to cure his team’s ills: “What happened to us during the three Champions League matches is inexplicable. The three games we played at home, I would say the best word to define it is inexplicable and unfair. I don’t think anyone who saw this match can say that the result was fair. But it’s like life, unfair. Today is a shit day, starting tomorrow we will start thinking about things we can improve, if we can improve, because we definitely can“. With this new poor performance, the Rouge et Bleu are now in immense danger and for the first time in the history of PSG version QSI, there is a probable scenario where the final phases of the Champions League are played without the club the capital. In any case, with 4 points taken in 4 matches, this start to the campaign also represents the club’s worst start to the Champions League since the arrival of Qatar.
Outside of the Top 24 and a monstrous calendar!
By taking out the calculator, PSG will have to take at least four points from the last four matches to hope to stay alive: “An elimination? Without a doubt. I can’t guarantee that we will qualify. But I know we will try until the end. There will be four finals to play. If the dynamics of the Champions League are like that, I really don’t know. This competition started badly, with an abnormal draw for a team in the first pot, and from there our arguments were no longer enough to win the match. We should have easily won all three home games. If the dynamics are like this, it is obvious that it will be very complicated. I don’t plan things much. Life can change in just a few seconds. I never make a plan on where to finish. Everything can stop after the eighth in just two matches. Everything can change for the better too. This is the situation. Nothing tragic though», First clarified the former coach of La Roja.
Image generation in progress
Everything remains possible of course but like last season, when Paris Saint-Germain came within a few minutes of elimination in the group of death (AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Newcastle), the residents of the Parc des Princes will have to fight hard to get a qualifying ticket. Given the level displayed and the eternal concerns which cannot be resolved, the meetings against Manchester City and Bayern Munich appear to be missions impossible. For Captain Marquinhos, it is now that the group must come together: “We have four points in four games, including three at home. We will have to take difficult points away. We are PSG, if we have to look for points, we will go for it. You shouldn’t throw everything away because you lost. We still have matches to play. It’s in the last details that we get penalized. If we want to grow in this difficult competition, we have no right to miss each other on the small details“. Unlike the match against PSV, PSG will not be allowed to make mistakes against Stuttgart and RB Salzburg.
Present in the mixed zone, the scorer of the evening, Warren Zaire Emery, was invited to answer questions about this European crisis, which is raging in the daily life of PSG at the start of the season. Note that Luis Enrique lost 44% of his matches on the bench with PSG in the Champions League (7/16), the highest defeat ratio for a coach of the Parisian club in the competition under QSI. The Rouge et Bleu also lost 5 matches in the same calendar year in the European Cup for the first time in its history: “The balance sheet, when we look at the points, it is rather negative, but when we look at the matches, it is rather positive. There are periods that are like that, it’s football. It’s a lot, it’s repeated, but we work in training. We are not worried, we do everything to win all our matches, we give everything every time“, preferred to procrastinate the young French midfielder. In terms of good news, the return of Gonçalo Ramos could bring a real offensive addition to the Parisian ranks between now and December and January. The final sprint is already underway for PSG!
