If we will probably never know what was said in the Parisian locker room at Bollaert-Delelis, the walls must have probably trembled. At the end of a first period very far from its usual standards, particularly in terms of intensity, Paris Saint-Germain was then led in the score by an attractive Lens team. When they returned from the locker room, the faces of the capital's players had changed.
“We were a little sluggish (sic) in the first period. We got motivated again at half-time and we are happy with the result” simply explained after the match Bradley Barcola, author of the second Parisian goal. Three days already after a very complicated match on the Espaly amateurs' lawn in the Coupe de France, we will not know more about the words used by the players or by the Parisian coach at the break of this L1 match against Lens If WIllian Pacho also recognized a lack of offensive drive from his team in the first period, the Ecuadorian defender spoke of a team “.more united“on the way back from the locker room.”We were able to increase the intensity and that's what allowed us to turn the match around” added Pacho at the microphone of beIN Sport.
A system that raises questions
On AC, PSG remains undefeated in the league this season, but has not reassured many people. The fault is 45 minutes played in reverse and at a senator's pace. And if the combined absences of Ousmane Dembélé, Marquinhos and Achraf Hakimi could partly explain this general litany, the playing system put in place by Luis Enrique also had a preponderant place in his team's more than sluggish start to the match.
Aligned in a hybrid 3-4-3 at kick-off, with three left-handed central defenders (Hernandez, Pacho and Beraldo), the Parisians sometimes seemed lost in the offensive animation. In the defensive phase, Lucas Hernandez then occupied the left lane and Warren Zaire-Emery the right lane, an unusual position for him. Even more unusual is the positioning of Nuno Mendes in midfield. A sector of the game where the Parisians have long been displaced by the Lensois.
Fabian Ruiz, Bradley Barcola and Nuno Mendes (PSG) against Lens in Ligue 1, January 18, 2025
Credit: Getty Images
-As a symbol of this double face of PSG, even its captain of the evening, Gianluigi Donnarumma, was, at first, very worrying, before saving his team at the end of the match with a masterful double parade. “It was a very difficult, very complicated match” reacted after the meeting Luis Enrique. “We came up against a very aggressive opponent with a lot of character“.
It's true that we can play better than that
Without recognizing his error of judgment regarding the composition of his starting eleven, the Spanish coach admitted, half-heartedly, that he was still looking for himself. “Sometimes, as a coach, we try to help the team with our choices. Sometimes we get there, sometimes we don't“, continued the Parisian coach. Judging the first period despite everything “very good until the goal conceded“, Luis Enrique wanted to learn from this meeting the reaction capacity of his men. “We were good enough to turn things around in a match like that. To win here, you have to have a good level.”
“But it's true that we can play better than that” he concluded. While the Parisians will play for their European future against Manchester City on Wednesday at the Parc des Princes, the beginnings at Bollaert-Delelis are nothing to reassure. No more than the speech of a coach, still looking for the magic formula, a year and a half after his arrival on the bench of the capital.