Paris is not in danger. Undefeated this season, he controls his destiny in Group H. He can even qualify on Tuesday if they win if Juventus do not win in Haifa.
In Ligue 1, the reigning French champion is still the leader with eight wins and two draws in ten days.
The passage times are almost perfect, but the game has been much less shimmering for a month and the atmosphere seems to be falling apart a bit.
The three times PSG have been seriously shaken physically this season, they have conceded a draw, against Monaco (1-1), Benfica (1-1) on Wednesday and Reims (0-0) on Saturday.
In the first leg, the Lisbon “Eagles” flew in the feathers of the Parisians in a very intense meeting. Benfica, tied on points (7 pts) with PSG, also dreams of outpacing Juventus (3 points) which they beat in Turin (2-1).
Figures revealing the Parisian decline, the attack which averaged 4 goals per game over the first seven games, from the Champions Trophy against Nantes (4-0) to the match on September 3 against the same opponent (3-0) , fell to 1.4 goals per game over the next seven.
Paris played Saturday in Reims (0-0) its first game without scoring a goal this season.
– “Nervousness” –
Christophe Galtier has “no worries” but the coach admits that his team’s game was less sparkling in Champagne. He regretted that she persisted in getting the ball out of the short game “excessively” and that she was unable to “break the pressing”.
The many changes in the starting lineup, essential with this “insane calendar”, have also modified the usual balances. Without his “MNM” trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, the team is obviously less dangerous. And Messi, injured in a calf, is still absent for the return match on Tuesday.
“When you have absentees like Lionel or Ney, who hasn’t started (against Reims, editor’s note) because he has played a lot, a lot lately, it can lead to a lack of benchmarks and stupid loss of balls, “said pleaded Galtier after Reims.
The coach does not point to “fatigue”, but rather “nervousness”.
In Reims, Sergio Ramos was excluded for protest, a lack of control that the Parisian team often reproduces.
The whistled foul against Marco Verratti at that time was perhaps not obvious, but the PSG players were at least five to surround the referee, in the 40th minute of a match at 0-0 without great tension , for a free kick very far from their goal.
– Signs –
“We must not overreact, it’s obvious,” notes Galtier. “I often talk about it, I’ll clarify things again, we can’t get into trouble like that. We lose players because of a lack of control when we have very high level players.”
Mbappé was also nervous, with a very strong tackle at the very end of the match, a sign of frustration, which earned him a yellow card and which could have cost more.
The PSG star is also not in the shape of his life. ‘Kyky’ has scored just one goal in his last four matches for Paris and missed the head-to-head matches he usually excels at.
Signs of weakening are noticeable elsewhere.
In central defense, Marquinhos has not become the intractable captain who dominated his opponents, and still seems to be chasing after his best level since his unfortunate match against Real Madrid in the Champions League, which dates back more than seven months. .
On the side of the pistons aligned by Galtier, Achraf Hakimi is also going through a less good period, on the right, and was also very nervous in Reims.
Fortunately, Gianluigi Donnarumma is in top form, with plenty of decisive saves. But it is a symptom of the slight less well that has plagued PSG that its best player has been its goalkeeper for a few games.
