Paul Rouget, Media365: published on Thursday November 7, 2024 at 10:58 a.m.
Virtually eliminated from the Champions League halfway through the first phase, PSG nevertheless has “an incredible future” according to Diego Simeone, Atlético coach, after the Madrilenians' 2-1 victory in Paris.
This time, the situation is serious. Beaten in added time by Atlético de Madrid on Wednesday evening at the Parc des Princes (1-2), PSG, which had already lost on the Arsenal pitch (0-2), is now virtually eliminated from the Champions League after four matches, out of eight, in the new version of this first phase. 25th in the ranking, while the first eight, including Monaco and Brest, are directly qualified for the round of 16 and the teams ranked 9th to 24th will compete in a play-off, the Parisians are on the brink of the abyss.
Their coach Luis Enrique, very dejected, recognized that qualification was far from certain and that they would have to play “four finals”, with three trips on the program (to Munich against Bayern, Salzburg and Stuttgart to finish) and the reception of Manchester City in January on the penultimate day to achieve this.
Simeone: “Very good players”
And if the capital's players, largely dominant, once again showed a flagrant lack of efficiency, which is not new, the coach of their victorious opponent was optimistic for the French champions. “We knew that we were coming to meet a team that has already experienced semi-finals and a final of the Champions League, that plays very well with very good players,” Diego Simeone said at a press conference. “They had six or seven players who were under 24. They have an incredible future.
A future perhaps, but what about the present? Because even if this PSG has reduced its size and abandoned its star policy with the summer departure of Kylian Mbappé for Real Madrid, elimination in the first phase of the C1 would undeniably be a task. And would put pressure on Luis Enrique, who again played without a real center forward on Wednesday evening, even if he ended up restarting Randal Kolo Muani, in vain. And who then asserted that he would “always remain faithful to (his) ideas”. Until you die with it?
