For a second time in recent years, Paris St Germain faced off against Bayern Munich in the Champions’ League, although this time it wasn’t in the final. The French champions made their first and only decider in this tournament close to three years ago, in the middle of the first bloom of the pandemic. In that game, they lost 1-0 to the reigning holders of the Bundesliga title, thanks to a goal from Kingsley Coman. Fast forward to 2023, and on home soil in the last 16 PSG experienced defeat against the same opponent, by the same margin, and the same scorer was on the scoresheet.
The game was always going to be tightly balanced, and there was little difference between the two sides in terms of odds at bestnongamstopcasinos sports betting sites. But after this loss in the home leg of the first knockout round, the super-rich French side now has it all to do when they head to Germany for the return leg. Bayern have an exceptional pedigree in this tournament as the only side outside of England and Spain to have won it since 2010, and they’re not going to be easy to overcome with that goal advantage in their pockets. So are PSG about to depart the main stage early - again - and why does this keep happening?
Imbalance in spending leaves a lop-sided team
Everyone knows that PSG have deep pockets and the ability to buy just about any player on the planet. But when you are essentially the cash plaything of people who can literally never spend their last penny, it can have a warping effect. PSG want to sign galacticos, and that means bringing in the best attackers money can buy. Messi, Neymar, Mbappe, Icardi and others in recent years have certainly been enough firepower to consistently win Ligue 1. But in midfield and defence, the spending has been less well-targeted. Sure, Sergio Ramos is a defender with great pedigree. He’s also 36 and has won everything he needs to. In some corner of his mind, he’s already begun his retirement.
Poor focus means missing out on the best domestic products
The French midfield that takes the pitch for the 2026 World Cup, barring injury, is all but certain to include Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni, products of the academies at Rennes and Monaco respectively. Both players are now employed by Real Madrid, who essentially own the Champions League and loan it out as they see fit. Both players were well within PSG’s spending capabilities, and would have made a huge difference against Bayern. Worse yet, Kingsley Coman, another French international and the scorer of two winning goals in two appearances against PSG? He was trained at PSG, but couldn’t break into the first team ahead of more expensive players.
Lack of domestic threat makes PSG less sharp
Although closest contenders Marseille are just five points back - and Monaco and Lens are within three points of them - few pundits doubt that PSG will win Ligue 1 again. The narrow gap right now has a lot to do with underperformance against weaker opposition. It’s true that they’ve actually dropped the domestic title a couple of times since 2016, but for the most part, PSG aren’t consistently closely challenged in France, and thus haven’t sharpened their competitive instincts in the way others have. For all that Bayern are perma-champions of Germany, they usually have to wait until May to be sure of their title. Switching from domestic dominance to a more cut-throat continental challenge keeps finding PSG wanting.
Date Of Update: 15 April 2024, 05:00
