Champions League: Paris Saint-Germain and Thomas Tuchel – lost and yet gained something

True greatness should be shown in defeat, and when Paris Saint-Germain was determined to be the loser of the Champions League final, coach Thomas Tuchel spoke of distortion of competition.

But that was no follow-up from the Parisian coach after this exciting final, in which only the goal of Bayern’s Kingsley Coman fell, in which his team missed many good chances and maybe with a little more luck could have won. No, Tuchel joked and distributed compliments, even to his opponent: Manuel Neuer was “a bit of a distortion of competition”. He was “in absolute top form at the wrong moment, for weeks,” said Tuchel, praising the Munich goalkeeper at Sky, and the coach added: “I saw a great fight.”

Tuchel looked relaxed and relaxed, he looked big in defeat. At least in front of the TV cameras there was no trace of the coach type who had been described as humanly difficult after his time in Dortmund. The semi-final against Leipzig, when he clashed with the RB athletic coach, was a reminder that the 46-year-old can also run out of skin. But there were no such scenes against Bayern.

At the awards ceremony, Tuchel waited on the podium until Neymar had received his participation medal. The pictures of the crying Brazilian superstar will last. But how Tuchel pulled his striker to himself and comforted him, such an image remains.

The German coach also needs these pictures. They demonstrate a cohesion that the French media did not believe in before the final tournament in Lisbon. Tuchel could not deal with his Parisian superstars, it was recently read that he could not reach the cabin. Before the final, Kylian Mbappé said he had heard of this criticism, but he couldn’t understand it. “We’re all behind the coach,” said the French superstar. The team spirit was greater than ever this year – and Tuchel played a major role in this, said Mbappé.

Mbappé has been with the club for three years, he now knows that success is measured by performance in the premier class. The Qatari club owners have been pumping money into the team for nine years, players for 1.4 billion euros have come during this time. Tuchel’s predecessors Laurent Blanc, Carlo Ancelotti and Unai Emery won championships and cups in a row, but when they failed to succeed in the Champions League, they had to leave.

In his first year, Tuchel and his team failed in the round of 16 against Manchester United. It was a dramatic end, according to Tuchel at the time an inexplicable end. Just a few months before, Tuchel had been received with great enthusiasm in Paris, people praised how quickly he had learned French, and they appreciated how meticulous he was in the detail work. But with the Manchester out the mood changed.

In the event that victory in the premier class does not work out again this year, the severance payment for Tuchel has recently been published. It should be at 15 million euros, “L’Équipe” wants to know from the club.

Tuchel has led the team into the first final in club history and the first semi-final in 25 years. But the mission to win the Champions League is still unfulfilled. Tuchel was asked at Sky whether he will continue to attack with PSG in the future. “I haven’t heard anything else.” But even at that moment Tuchel laughed. “I’m sure of it.”

Maybe he can allow himself to laugh too. In addition to the requirement to win the Champions League, there is now a second task as a Paris coach, which is: Find a role for Neymar and Kylian Mbappé.

The strikers came to PSG for a € 400 million transfer fee, their obligations three years ago had attracted the attention of a victory in the premier class. The lights were on, and when Neymar played he was world class. But injuries and rumors of change clouded the balance sheet, to some Neymar seemed even listless. “Fuck off, you son of a bitch”, PSG fans wrote on a poster at a home game. Neymar and Paris, the chapter already seemed history.

Lens follows Lisbon

Almost twelve months later, in the final of the Champions League, Neymar is working diligently in PSG’s counter-pressing. He’s well isolated against Bayern, it’s not a great evening for him. But Neymar leaves no stone unturned, he keeps approaching Manuel Neuer. “Like a little street fighter,” Neymar said, Tuchel said: “He has become a real leader.”

Thomas Tuchel has not yet won the Champions League with Paris. But at PSG he has found a balance between offensive power and defensive strength like no Paris coach in recent club history. PSG made it into the final as the best defensive team in the Champions League, and the seven-goal Bayern from Chelsea and eight-goal Bayern from Barcelona only had a few chances in the final. On this way, Tuchel took his superstars Neymar and Mbappé with him.

We will soon find out how sustainable this process is, the first impressions will be given on Saturday. Then Ligue 1 continues for PSG, the club has to go to RC Lens. It’s the contrast of Lisbon and it’s going to be a long way back to a Champions League final.

It will be exciting to see what happens on the transfer market. Edinson Cavani and Thomas Meunier have already left the club, Thiago Silva will leave, he is 35, but also captain and still a top defender; Tuchel would have liked to keep it. But there are also players who were there before Tuchel. Your departures are also an opportunity for something new. Maybe Tuchel will now have the opportunity to build up his own team even more. That would be the maximum vote of confidence.