PSG could not do better than 1-1 against Reims in a match marked by the overall domination of the visitors. A look back at the individual performances of the Parisians on a case-by-case basis.
Donnarumma : The Italian goalkeeper certainly failed to sign a huge ball after 20 seconds, he was nonetheless the most solid Parisian during the 95 minutes that followed. Reims had targeted him for his kicking game, with good reason since he often lost the ball when he had to lengthen the game and his short raises were not always very academic, but the rest of his performance was long been good. He certainly had to make up for several of his recovery errors but also knew how to compensate for the shortcomings of his partners until the goal where he could hardly stop a Balogun who has such a free field. Note a good presence on the centers, which is not necessarily common for him.
Judge: The Moroccan side was one of the few vaguely successful players this Sunday and it is already a small feat. While he sometimes struggled to manage Flips on his wing, he was invaluable in attacking throughout the game. While Paris was reduced to 10, he even continued to animate his right flank alone, scoring a goal that was logically disallowed, and he finished the game strong on both sides of the field. Too bad to have however regularly lacked accuracy in the last gesture.
Marquinhos: Aligned in the right axis, the Parisian captain had a complicated first act, and not only because he is warned for having cut a counter. Regularly dominated in the duels, he several times let Reims get dangerously close to the Parisian goal. After the break, the captain also conceded with a missed tackle a penalty canceled for a very real offside but he fortunately finished the game well even if it was above all in a role of firefighter on duty that was not very rewarding for his team. . With the ball, he is always clean, but rarely very enterprising either.
Ramos : The matches follow one another and look alike for the Spaniard, with the same qualities and the same faults. When it comes to defending low on the pitch, his experience and his general accuracy in reading situations make him make rather positive interventions, but managing depth is a huge concern for him. The speed of the opposing attackers is a permanent problem for him, forcing him to sometimes play off the hook like the conceded goal where he covers Balogun. With the ball at his feet, he was however able to be interesting, especially with his diagonals, while he was dangerous from a corner. But he misses his legs…
Bernard: The Spanish full-back again had a complicated evening, serving as a false lead for the opposing defense when his team attacked and as a target player when the opponent attacked. Abandoned on his left flank for half time, he suffered the opposing waves and never knew how to manage Ito’s movements. He is also overtaken by Munetsi in his goal area on a cross and has often struggled to frame Foket. Offensively, apart from holding the ball and turning it around, it seems impossible to ask more of him if we are to believe the confidence granted by his partners.
Fabian Ruiz : Caught from the start of the match on an action that looked like the one that had cost Lens a goal, the Spaniard took a long time to get into the game and his first half was very poor with the exception a good incursion into the opposing area. For the rest, his inability to play forward or to give the slightest rhythm to the meeting was very penalizing. He was a little better after the break, with more speed in general, and even managed to fill the expulsion of Verratti rather well until his exit. The record of his match remains insufficient.
Renato Sanches replaced him for the end of the match and the Portuguese again signed a very average entry. With the exception of a fine pass for Hakimi following a poorly played play, he didn’t achieve much of a positive and was of little use in recovery. On the contrary, he lost a ball that could have cost and did not use those he touched very well.
Vitinha: Always as mobile and available, the young Portuguese was the sacrifice of half-time but he did not necessarily deserve to be. In the Reims camp, his few interceptions thanks to his placement, often chained by good passes, were at the origin of the rare interesting moments of the first period. But when Reims was in the Parisian half of the field, it unfortunately became completely optional.
Verratti replaced him and positioned himself in front of the defence. He inevitably took matters into his own hands, restoring meaning to his team, but his deserved expulsion for a totally missed tackle was costly.
Soler : In the very asymmetrical 4-4-2 flat of the day, the Spaniard was the counterpart of Neymar on the right but, in fact, he was only a foil. He once again hardly touched the ball, even if he was several times a good point of support for Hakimi at the start of the game as his role implied. He gradually disappeared completely from the game, even when he was little replaced in torchbearer after the break.
Danilo logically replaced him at the end of the game and he positioned himself in front of the defense to protect it. He succeeded for a while, also ensuring a fairly clean recovery, but he was totally at fault and overwhelmed on the Reims goal.
Neymar : Falsely on the left side but above all very free, the Brazilian tried to enlighten the Parisian game as best he could and he never hid with the ball. He sometimes lost quite a few in the first half, less afterwards, and if he played a few shots badly, he also managed a few miracles to find his partners in good conditions, Messi and Mbappé wasting several of his passes. His opener after a superb technical sequence was good. Replaced lower with PSG at 10, he then defended and attacked like an attacker with the assets and the risks that this implies. Defensively, he had a game in several stages, content to press and then watch the opponent go away in the first period before being involved more fully afterwards. He finished exhausted but walks away with honors during a ridiculous game for his team.
Zaire-Emery replaced him and he totally missed his entry with several lost balls, the last of which resulted in the Reims goal. The learning continues and even his coach pointed to the responsibility of the older ones rather than his on this action.
Messi : The world champion never stops stringing together tasteless matches and, with the exception of a few exchanges with Neymar and some well-felt passes in the second half, he completely missed his match. Unable to get out of the opposing pincers, not good on his cross passes which are nevertheless one of his strengths and catastrophic in front of goal with several missed opportunities, the Argentinian weighed in the bad sense of the term. Defensively, his investment is nil and the duo of cones he forms with Mbappé is unbearable.
Mbappe: Only a few calls and races on the left side enhance a generally failed performance from the Frenchman. His first period in general is even absolutely catastrophic, Mbappé missing everything from a technical point of view. The second period, more vertical on the whole and easier to use the ball, was more interesting but he stumbled on the opposing goalkeeper when he could really save his match and the record therefore remained terribly poor.
