Mbappé was not good against Lille – Christophe Ena / AP / SIPA
At the Parc des Princes,
Little consolation for PSG Mauricio Pochettino a few days before his quarter-final first leg of the Champions League: Bayern Munich won on the lawn of Leipzig with a small 1-0 in the Bundesliga. Nothing to intimidate or “send a message” to the enemy as the formula demands. But it’s always better than the parody of football disgusted by the Parisians against Losc on Saturday night. The Parisian coach will always be able to try to convince himself that deep down, his team perhaps deserved “the draw for the number of chances and for the domination”, seen from everything up there, it was really not terrible .
Moreover, Poche admits it himself: “we were not at the level that PSG should be. “Admitted fault, half forgiven, even if the Argentinian tries to camouflage the snub behind the context, the last minute absences – Verratti for Covid, Florenzi as a precaution – and the roller coaster that creates an abysmal gap between the performance at the Camp Nou or in Lyon and the one interviewed yesterday. “Did the players have their heads in the Champions League,” Christophe Galtier wondered like us after his team’s victory. Basically, it does not matter why this football nothingness, the whole thing being to no longer reproduce it. An anthology of what should not be done again in Munich under penalty of leaving with a suitcase full of bad memories.
Serve too much coffee to Neymar before the match
Seriously, Ney? A hand in the face of Benjamin André, a second gesture of just as stupid humor on Djalo to complete a work tinged with red and a challenge in the octagon against the defender Lille at the final whistle … We can excuse and understand the frustration of a man back from injury and overwhelmed because he lacked rhythm but up to a point which, obviously, has been crossed. Against Bayern, we will have to keep calm and if possible get the opponent out of his match. Not the opposite.
To seek Neymar excessively
Yes, the Brazilian is the star of the team, yes, he is back and needs to find some feeling and yes, he was positioned in 10 to organize. But against Lille, Neymar magnetized the ball as too often to the detriment of any collective project. The Parisian game has become too axial and stereotypical. However, it was not badly started with his almost decisive pass for Kylian Mbappé saved by Mike Maignan in the first period. But it quickly went into a spin after the opening scoring of Jonathan David: the Ney tried to don a savior costume still a little too heavy for his poor physical condition by carrying the ball too often for nothing. The other players exist, kid, and without them you’re not going anywhere. In any case certainly not in the semifinals of C1.
Line up the same midfielder
Verratti absent and Neymar back, the place of simili 10 naturally returned to the ghost. Except that the Brazilian does not have the same vision of the job as the Italian. Saturday, we were more on the 80s version, the one that comes down whistling when the opponent goes against. Obviously, after a quarter of an hour, Paredes could no longer compensate Neymar and another quarter of an hour later, Gueye died from running for Ney and Leo. It was at this precise moment that the Bermuda Triangle appeared in the Parisian interplay. In the Champions League, it will be essential to find a defensive balance. Why not try Kean again on one side like at Camp Nou? Even positioned at the forefront, the Italian was one of the few offensives to come and help the friends in the middle in the defensive galley.
Put Thilo Kehrer on the scoresheet
Shooting the ambulance is bad, especially these days. We’re frankly sorry, but Thilo, it’s no longer possible. You have to put down the controller, put away the apron, start golfing or simply change clubs. But PSG is two steps too high for the former Schalke 04. If the Lille goal comes from the right, the German defender has let everything pass on his side against Bamba and Ikoné. Marquinhos and even Navas had to compensate for his defensive largesse. And offensively, it was not much better. Special mention for this half-hearted strike in the first half which landed directly in the Auteuil greenhouses. In short, Mauricio, we will have to find another plan on Wednesday, in Germany and pray hard for a return of Florenzi. Because Coman, Sané and Gnabry are going fast. Even faster.