Paris Saint-Germain are at increasing risk of missing out on the Champions League’s knockout phase altogether after losing with 10 men away at Bayern Munich.
It was a night for forget for Ousmane Dembele, who was sent off for two yellow cards and also extended his record of taking the most shots by any player in the competition this season without scoring.
Goalkeeper Matvey Safonov was caught out by the corner from which Kim Min-jae scored the only goal and while he pulled off a great save from Jamal Musiala in the second half to keep it at 1-0, PSG never found a way to get level.
This result leaves PSG in 26th spot in the 36-team league, and Bayern 11th, after five of their eight matches in this opening phase, with the top eight qualifying for the round of 16 automatically, the next 16 entering a play-off round to decide the other eight places and the bottom eight eliminated from Europe.
Here The Athletic’s Oliver Kay, Sebastian Stafford-Bloor and Anantaajith Raghuraman break down the key talking points.
Are PSG really going to be eliminated?
Could Paris Saint-Germain miss out on the Champions League knockout stage altogether? The new format offers margin for error but the French champions are in big trouble, having lost three and won just one of their first five games in the league phase.
PSG had only a three per cent chance of finishing in the top eight before tonight and defeat in Munich leaves them 26th in the 36-team standings, just ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk, Sparta Prague and Girona, and desperately needing something from their final three games: away to Red Bull Salzburg on December 10, then Manchester City (home) and Stuttgart (away) in January.
With eight teams progressing automatically to the round of 16 and the sides finishing ninth to 24th facing a round of two-leg play-offs for the other eight spots it seemed almost inconceivable that one of Europe’s big guns could finish in the table’s bottom 12, but PSG are in genuine danger of that.
There were elements of the second-half performance here that might have encouraged coach Luis Enrique, but their lack of goals in this competition (three in the five games) is a real concern.
Oliver Kay
Is Kimmich Bayern’s captain in waiting?
This was a timely performance from Joshua Kimmich, who was at the root of almost everything Bayern did well. Timely, because his contract is due to expire at the end of this season and he and the club are still trying to reach an agreement over an extension. This week, Max Eberl, the club’s board member for sport, described the situation.
“I think we are very, very open with him,” Eberl told German newspaper Sport Bild. “We’ve told him that we want to extend his contract. We are telling him that he should become captain when Manuel Neuer is no longer on the pitch. And we tell him that he should be the face of our club. We’ve made that clear to him and we stand behind it.”
No wonder, because Kimmich was everything Bayern needed him to be against PSG. One of the criticisms of the 29-year-old is that he does not do enough with the ball when he plays in midfield; that he is a neat passer, but not a true orchestrator — and there is merit to that argument sometimes.
But Kimmich was particularly dynamic with the ball tonight, starting moves, then providing the stability in his own half to allow those moves to develop safely.
His role under Bayern’s new manager Vincent Kompany has certainly broadened. Playing back in midfield after some time being used as a full-back naturally extends his influence, but he seems so often to be both the start point for moves and also the out-ball for team-mates who are caught deep in their own half and put under pressure.
A captain’s performance, even if he’s not wearing the armband for Bayern yet.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
Was Dembele unlucky, bad or both?
Dembele’s performance on the night was emblematic of a team who have potential but aren’t doing things right.
With Alphonso Davies pushing forward and even inverting at times for Bayern, Dembele received multiple opportunities to bear down on goal from PSG’s right. His first involvement came eight minutes in after a Bayern error seemed to send him through, but he dawdled on the ball and Leon Goretzka slid in to block his shot.
Dembele got his and PSG’s first attempt on target in the 20th minute after another Bayern giveaway, but his effort from the edge of the box was comfortably pouched by Neuer. Another break followed 12 minutes later, with Fabian Ruiz’s reverse pass finding Dembele, who wrestled with Kim before firing in a left-footed shot from an acute angle that Neuer palmed away.
Frustrating, but PSG simply needed to hang on until the break. Unfortunately for them, then came the sequence that defined the game.
As both teams set up for a Bayern corner, Dembele repeatedly debated with referee Istvan Kovacs on the legitimacy of the set piece being awarded in the first place, getting himself booked. The initial corner was cleared out for another, which Safonov flapped at to allow Kim to score in the 38th minute.
PSG looked refreshed after the break, with their pressing limiting Bayern to unsuccessful counter-attacks. Dembele was involved in their bid for an equaliser, sending a couple of teasing crosses into the box as well. However, that positive start from the visitors ended when he was shown a second yellow card in the 56th minute after sliding in to win the ball off Davies.
Replays showed the Frenchman did get a boot on the ball, but with VAR unable to review second yellows, Dembele was dismissed, leaving PSG to play over half an hour with 10 men when their Champions League campaign was on the line.
The dismissal will be disappointing, but this was another missed opportunity for Dembele, who holds the envious record of recording the most shots without a goal in this season’s Champions League (21).
Anantajith Raghuraman
Why doesn’t Luis Enrique pick a centre-forward?
“We need 20 clear chances to score,” PSG coach Luis Enrique lamented after their 2-1 home defeat by Atletico Madrid in their previous Champions League fixture three weeks ago, which makes it all the stranger that he continues to operate without a specialist centre-forward.
Goncalo Ramos is not yet match-fit after an ankle injury, but the continued exclusion of Randal Kolo Muani is mystifying, with Luis Enrique preferring to field Dembele and Bradley Barcola as wide forwards and leaving the central area vacant for long periods of the first half tonight.
It wasn’t a horses-for-courses selection. Kolo Muani has started more games for France this season (five) than for PSG (two). He has not started a club match since Luis Enrique substituted him at half-time during the 1-1 draw with Nice on October 6.
After Dembele was sent off here, it was Ramos who was summoned from the bench to replace Barcola with 18 minutes remaining. That didn’t work either.
There is logic in going without a specialist centre-forward, but it requires an element of control in midfield or, failing that, a direct, incisive edge in attack. On this occasion, PSG had none of the above.
Oliver Kay
What was the Al-Khelaifi banner displayed by Bayern fans?
Bayern’s ultras came to this one prepared for the occasion — the specific game and the broader conflict. In the first half, they unveiled a banner aimed directly at Nasser Al-Khelaifi, PSG’s club president.
“Football C’est moi? F*** off plutocratic Al-Khelaifi!”
On a separate banner, hoisted a few rows behind the first one:
“Minister, club owner, TV rights holder, UEFA ExCo member and ECA chairman all in one!”
The banners held up by Bayern fans (Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Within that franglaise, the inference by the ultras is that Al-Khelaifi holds too much power in the game. Or that he holds too much authority within organisations that, in a few cases, theoretically overlap with one another.
It’s a hard charge to refute. Al-Khelaifi is president of the BeIN media group, a Champions League broadcaster. He is also, as the banners make reference to, a force within both UEFA’s executive committee and the European Club Association — European football’s policy-maker and its organisation of member clubs respectively.
PSG have not responded to a request for comment on the banners from The Athletic. And, as is UEFA protocol, the governing body will wait for reports from the match before considering any action.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
What next for PSG?
Saturday, November 30: Nantes (H), Ligue 1, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
What next for Bayern Munich?
Saturday, November 30: Borussia Dortmund (A), Bundesliga, 5.30pm UK, 12.30pm ET
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(Top photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
