PSG-Barcelona (2-3): a cruel return to earth

It will take a comeback. Too weak defensively, too static offensively for 45 minutes, PSG found itself in European trouble, with an unfavorable waiver for a possible Champions League semi-final.

His defeat (2-3) forces him to play THE big match next Tuesday in Catalonia, which remains possible even if none of the above indicates such a revolt. But we all have the right to dream. Winning would have allowed PSG to find space on the return leg. He will have to create them on his own.

Stuck in possession for 45 minutes with a logically unfavorable score (0-1, Raphinha, 37th), Luis Enrique changed everything at the break. His team held the shock for the first fifteen minutes before Barça monopolized the ball by creating differences which put Beraldo to torture, overwhelmed in everything. The Catalans showed that ownership was not only a philosophy but also an art of living and moving. Tradition prevailed over reproduction.

New tactical situation

Building on this failure, Bradley Barcola replaced Marco Asensio, a fiasco, and PSG agreed to play counterattacks since he would not have the ball facing his model, not yet his mirror. With speed on the sides, a more axial Kylian Mbappé and an Ousmane Dembélé, the man at the same time, moved from the right to the left.

The new tactical situation blew up Barcelona in two minutes, highlighting the flaws in its hitherto cushy defence. History also recalled that Paris completely missed its first periods in the Champions League, after that of the round of 16 first leg against Real Sociedad.

Without consequence at the time, this logic of entering the competition badly proved prohibitive against an attack of the scale of Barça, with Lamine Yamal still fantastic. He is the revelation of European football this season while another candidate, Warren Zaire-Emery, started on the bench as a sign of his current slowdown. The evening when Luis Enrique’s team begins a major European match with a diabolical intensity that he will maintain over time, he will have moved forward. If he passes this round, he will have to meditate on this principle in the semi-final.

Condemned to the exploit

But the madness of the Parisian awakening continued to be escorted by its defensive mediocrity, an evening when the great Gianluigi Donnarumma lost his splendor and Lucas Beraldo, therefore, remained himself, that is to say not still a lot. Unable to contain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in a clasico, he had little chance of defending well against Raphinha or Robert Lewandowski, big names. The Catalans, who have the same experience as Real Madrid in C1, remained calm to come back to 2-2 at the hour mark, as a sign of these great teams who never panic, sure of themselves whatever be the physiognomy and the score.

With this poor performance, PSG once again becomes what it was programmed to be at the start of the season: an outsider in the Champions League. The appetite was born from a flawless qualification in the quarter-finals and an open draw. But he still lacks a lot to reach a C1 final, such as stable play and great defense, among others.

He condemned himself to the feat on April 16 at the Olympic stadium in Barcelona. Nothing is completely lost with the new rule which smooths away goals but PSG has only won one match in the event this season away, on March 5 in San Sebastian. If Spain inspires him, now is the time to act.