One goal in its last four matches in the semi-finals of the Champions League, this is the sad record of Paris Saint-Germain, eliminated by Dortmund on Tuesday evening after two defeats against the German club by the same score (1-0). The road trip against Manchester City made sense in 2021 (1-2, 2-0). The one against BVB without managing to score is a stain.
How could the French champion remain silent against the 5th in the Bundesliga? There is what concerns the opposing solidity, with a Mats Hummels – Nico Schlotterbeck duo imperial on the double confrontation. The efficiency factor, too: Paris attempted 30 shots this Tuesday evening, the highest total for a team without scoring in the knockout phase of C1 since Opta analyzed the competition (2003/04).
But also the lack of success. Kylian Mbappé and his team hit the amounts four times on Tuesday, six over the two matches. Another statistical anomaly that Nasser Al-Khelaïfi did not fail to raise in the mixed zone.
“We are very sad, disappointed. Because I think we don’t deserve that. Six goals, four times today. The ball doesn’t want to go in. It’s football, sometimes it’s unfair. We deserved to win this match. We have a lot of opportunities, we can score at least three goals.
Luis Enrique and Kylian Mbappé after the elimination of PSG in the semi-final of the Champions League
Credit: Getty Images
We built something strong
But the Parisian president knows it, we cannot win the Champions League with “we can”. His communication exercise then shifted to the angle of the new project. “We are proud of the players, the coach, the staff. We have built something strong for the future.” A future which will be written with Luis Enrique, as a colleague who had the misfortune to question “NAK” about the future of the Spanish technician clearly understood. His answer : “What is this question? Do you understand anything about football?”black and heavy look as a bonus.
“The story between Mbappé and PSG will forever remain unfinished”
We cannot blame the Parisian management for not having assumed from the start of the season that they were in transition. Nor the group for not being united – at least in its communication – around the project. “There are a lot of good things to come from this competitionassured Marquinhos at the microphone of Canal+. We overcame a lot of obstacles, we were eliminated in the semi-final. At the start of the season, no one believed in us. We have a new project with a new coach.”
Vitinha had more difficulty masking his terrible disillusionment but also had the strength, directly, to talk about the “start of a new project”. It is of course the coherence of the latter that we will quickly have to concentrate on. Not on the four amounts of Tuesday which, as cruel as they are, do not alone explain this sad, but not illogical end.
Comments collected in a mixed zone by Martin Mosnier
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