With elite status on the line, PSG fail once again
Paris Saint-Germain once again failed in the Champions League when confronted with elite opposition. Their loss to Real Madrid raises familiar questions.
Of all the Champions League round of 16 second leg ties, this one was supposed to be among the best. Despite the loss of Neymar through injury, Les Parisiens still had two members of the front three that scored 25 goals in the six group stage games.
They also had Angel Di Maria. The former Madrid man was facing his old side for the first time having spent the first leg on the bench. Both Zinedine Zidane and Sergio Ramos warned of Di Maria’s quality coming into the game, the visitor’s captain going as far as to say that Neymar wouldn’t be missed due to the presence of the Argentine. Despite their lead, the Madrid contingent were right to be wary.
After all, 12 months ago at this venue, Di Maria was the main man when PSG demolished Barcelona. Six of Tuesday’s lineup started that night: They had shown before they could beat Europe’s elite without Neymar. They may have lost the most expensive player in the world, but they still had the second and sixth most expensive playing up front.
It’s both disturbing and startling that for all the investment PSG have made since their Qatari takeover a few years ago, they still looked comfortably a level below Real Madrid in Paris. Los Blancos never seemed under pressure and the PSG players never seemed to believe they could comeback against Madrid. When they eventually did get on the score sheet, Madrid had already scored and the scrappy goal was more down to Madrid’s defense going to sleep than any sort of quality from the home side.
In comparison to previous early exits, this one felt different. Although PSG were poor against Barcelona last year, one still had to give plenty of credit to Barcelona for making such a miraculous comeback.
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On Tuesday, Real slowly suffocated their opponents. There’s no hiding behind an incredible comeback or misfortune. PSG have shown Europe they’re comfortably a level below the true European elite. There will be another summer of change in Paris this year, but this one will be filled with more intrigue than previous. Unai Emery will lose his job, but it will be interesting to see how this latest early exit will impact the squad changes.
Dani Alves, Thiago Motta and Thiago Silva aren’t getting younger. For all the suitors he had in the summer, Marco Verratti’s biggest contribution to this game — perhaps the tie overall — was getting sent off.
Kylian Mbappe was probably PSG’s best attacker, but still doesn’t look fully fit after his ankle injury, and the fact that he was forced to start speaks volumes about his side’s lack of depth. There’s a lot of work to be done in Paris and based on this performance, few players can say that their position at the club is safe.