Manchester United’s unlikely win against PSG was a reminder that the Champions League is a glorious crapshoot.
Prior to Manchester United’s game against Fulham at the start of February, played three days before the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie with Paris Saint-Germain, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was interviewed by his former teammate, Gary Neville.
“There’s no secret to playing football. One, you’ve got to enjoy yourself. Two, you’ve got to have good players, and they’ve got to be able to express themselves,” Solskjaer said.
“There are some tactical bits that we’ve done: play forward, run forward, be clinical in front of goal. Work hard, stay together as a team. I think they’ve done all that over the last seven weeks.”
At the time, it seemed, well, a bit Tim Sherwood. Or perhaps, following months of his predecessor as Manchester United manager dominating the headlines, Solskjaer simply felt it was right to shine the spotlight on the club’s players.
That afternoon, Solskjaer’s side proceeded to put in an unremarkable, disjointed performance that saw them emerge as comfortable 3-0 winners. Perhaps the Norwegian coach was onto something after all. And following Wednesday’s lunacy, it’s doubtful that United fans will question him for some time.
It was conspicuous that in the opposing dugout today sat a coach who’s cut from a very different cloth. PSG’s Thomas Tuchel is extremely fond — ostentatiously so, some would say — of presenting himself as a cerebral type, an innovator, a great thinker.
But I’d defy anyone watching the match tonight to be able to pick out which of the two teams was coached by one of the sport’s self-appointed intellectuals, and which was managed by somebody who won’t stop telling people how simple soccer is.
The manner in which Solskjaer and Tuchel talk about themselves and their sport differs markedly, yet the way in which their teams performed here didn’t. Both coaches even made very similar errors in their selections, with Eric Bailly and Thilo Kehrer seemingly competing to see who could come up with the best moments of on-field slapstick comedy.
It’s impossible to be sure if this victory tells us anything profound about United’s long-term future, though. Perhaps nights like this are meant to be experienced rather than understood. After all, the tie’s turning points involved a £33 million defender and one of the most revered goalkeepers in the history of the game making clownish errors.
Although the result was ultimately decided by which team made the fewest basic mistakes, this was a reminder if it were needed that the Champions League is at root a glorious crapshoot, albeit a constantly engaging and occasionally extraordinary one.
The fallout for PSG will be especially intriguing. It’s an open secret that the only trophy their owners care about is the Champions League. Finally winning it is the club’s one unifying impulse. But with that dream dead for another season at least, tensions will inevitably come to the surface.
The first relates to Tuchel and his fondness for playing the blame game. Things have gone so swimmingly for the German coach since his appointment that he’s barely had to deal with adversity. That will change now, and we should expect “sources close to Tuchel” to identify his chosen scapegoat in the coming months. Sporting director Antero Henrique seems the most obvious candidate.
The second surrounds Neymar’s future. With the distraction of a potential Champions League triumph gone, expect speculation about him to grow as well. That recent interview with a newspaper in his native Brazil certainly didn’t create the impression that Neymar is keen to renew his vows with PSG.
Returning to the subject of Solskjaer, maybe all our talk of half-spaces, expected assists and the like is just self-indulgent window dressing. Perhaps the Norwegian is right. His squad and fans are clearly much happier. It could be that you just need to buy good players, pick your best ones in their best positions and then refrain from incessantly picking fights with them.
It’s a chilling thought, but maybe Tim Sherwood has a point after all.