2023-12-14 00:12:00
He grunted, groaned. Tempted to bring his people together with big gestures, to shake up teammates who are too cautious for his liking. And when Paris, relieved, celebrated its qualification, Kylian Mbappé, in despair, raised his arms to the sky in disappointment. The Parisian star might not stand his team’s lack of ambition at the end of the match. As Milan’s victory at Newcastle (1-2) assured it a spring in C1, PSG pressed the brakes not to concede the goal, which would have ruined everything in the last ten minutes.
Then, following the shower, he sat on the club bus by himself. The disappointment was not digested. This is perhaps why we observe the change in status of a PSG long equipped to win and which, today, is content not to lose and to wait for another, AC Milan in this case, do the job for him. We are far from the Dream Bigger. However, if the consequences are obviously less dramatic than a stoppage in the group phase, the second place with which Paris was satisfied exposes it to a round of 16 in the form of a terminus.
Mbappé and bad memories
Let’s be clear, apart from Real Sociedad and FC Barcelona, PSG will not be favorites. Arsenal will perhaps offer him some prospects but the gap which today separates the French champion from Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and even Atlético Madrid is such that tackling them in February seems like a impossible mission. Mbappé remembered that in 2022 and 2023, second place in the group had put his club up once morest the wall once morest Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
This is also why he urged his people to come out of their shell when Achraf Hakimi asked everyone to calm down the debates. Between ambition and low income, not sure that Luis Enrique and his men made the right choice on Wednesday. But this calculation also reflects a reality: at the end of the group stage, Paris does not feel as strong as it should be. With one point taken out of nine away from home, attackers who are picking, defenders who are panicking, its status has crumbled over the course of a qualifying campaign that PSG has not mastered.
Lowest points total under QSI
With 8 points, PSG has its lowest number of points at the end of the Champions League groups under QSI and, among all the qualifiers, only Copenhagen has such a slim tally (also 8 points). However, the Parisian group did not include any serious contenders for the final victory, or even the last four. By rebuilding with men who do not yet have thick enough leather (Barcola, Kolo Muani, Lee Kang-In), the margin has been considerably reduced on the average C1 teams and the gap seems to be widening with the best. Perhaps it has never been so big in ten years.
Luis Enrique swears his team will be better in two months, that they are on the right track. But above all he will have to hope for a miracle if the draw reserves a heavyweight for him.
“Paris has a good chance of falling by the wayside in the 8th”: potential opponents under scrutiny
1702519804
#Dortmund #PSG #Paris #small #winner #PSGs #miscalculation
