In line with the other European big names, Paris Saint-Germain also made its comeback in this unprecedented 2024-2025 edition of the Champions League. Facing Girona at home, the semi-finalist of the last edition of the C1 intended to strike hard from the start to assume its status as favorite. But facing an opponent largely within its reach, the reigning French champion was forced to pull out the oars to overcome its Spanish counterpart (1-0) this Wednesday. And for good reason! Gaining confidence after a diligent start to the match, the Catalans put up a good fight against Parisians without a solution for nearly 89 minutes.
Because yes, we had to wait until the end of regulation time to see the Parisians force the opposing lock. Exemplary during most of the match like his numerous saves in front of Randal Kolo Muani and Dembélé, the Argentinian goalkeeper committed the irreparable on a cross-shot from Nuno Mendes that he had trouble catching before seeing the ball go into his own net. If the essential was assured, namely the three points synonymous with success to launch this new European campaign under the best auspices, the overall performance of the residents of the Parc des Princes remains rather disappointing.Logically, it wasn’t our best match. We weren’t very good, we didn’t feel like a usual PSG. We had difficulties in the construction, that’s Girona’s merit, but we have to see what we did wrong“, the Portuguese tried to explain at the final whistle.
Vitinha critical, WZE positive, Luis Enrique relieved
Before continuing: “In any case, in a match like this, you have to win. We’ll see what we can do differently tactically. For this first Champions League match, there was a lot of desire to play, sometimes it doesn’t help. We have to take a few more risks, play with personality like in Ligue 1. It’s difficult to say in the heat of the moment, but it will be corrected after the match.“While Vitinha admitted some difficulties in the Parisian game, his partner Warren Zaire Emery seemed to want to ignore the negative. Eager to send positive signals, the native of Montreuil considered that his team had delivered a rather successful match.
“We came up against a big Girona team. We knew it was going to be tough, we had prepared this week by analysing this team. We gave it our all, it shows our strength of character to have pushed the whole match and scored at the end. I am very proud to be part of this team. It was not a missed match, we won it. A small miracle, it’s true, but we had a lot of clear chances, we knew how to push the whole match. It shows that we don’t give up, that we all have character. We will do our best to win every match this season” said PSG’s number 33. At the same time, Luis Enrique seemed relieved to have snatched this result from the clutches of a valiant Girona team: “Difficult… The Girona team showed why they managed to qualify for the Champions League, why they were leaders of La Liga for so long last season. They defended very well, we had trouble creating clear chances, but we deserved the victory.“If the reactions are mixed in the Parisian camp, PSG will see the level of adversity rise a notch during the next day with a trip to Arsenal, on October 1st.
