Following their midweek defeat to Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain finds themselves in familiar ground, as a team that is too powerful for its French domestic rivals suffers in the Champions League. There is one difference this time: while PSG has frequently failed to live up to their promise in Europe, this season they appear to be nowhere near as excellent as the continent’s finest clubs. In Tuesday’s 1-0 loss in Munich, Luis Enrique’s side provided little attacking danger, with goalie Matfei Safonov at fault for the goal and Ousmane Dembele sent off.
That puts them one place and two points behind the qualifying spots for February’s knockout round play-offs, and they will undoubtedly need to win at least two of their remaining three matches to escape elimination.
With such a delicate position, Luis Enrique is inevitably under fire, with suspicions about his tactics — a strategy without any effect,” read a single article in sports daily L’Equipe on Thursday. His tendency to play without a center-forward after the departure of Kylian Mbappe and the injury to Goncalo Ramos stands out.
Randal Kolo Muani, a big-money signing who was supposed to step up after Mbappe’s departure, has become an outcast. Kolo Muani, a France regular, has started only twice this season for PSG and did not come off the bench against Bayern.
However, Paris has only scored three goals in five Champions League games, one of which was an own goal. “Being the coach of PSG is a privilege. “The pressure I put on myself exceeds any external pressure,” Luis Enrique stated in Munich.
“I’m not here to pass the time. My goal is to win titles now, not in the future.” PSG is on track to accomplish so domestically, as they remain unbeaten in Ligue 1 and six points ahead of nearest contenders Monaco before playing struggling Nantes this weekend.
At home, they average three goals per game, with Bradley Barcola scoring the most (10). They’ve lost only one of their last 41 Ligue 1 games. France’s other Champions League representatives, Monaco, Lille, and Brest, are all doing well in Europe, but PSG’s continued dominance at home while toiling abroad does not bode well for Ligue 1.