The contrast was striking, Wednesday evening March 8, at the Allianz Arena. While Paris Saint-Germain brought in Hugo Ekitike, Juan Bernat or the young El Chadaille Bitshiabu, Bayern launched Sadio Mané, Leroy Sané, Serge Gnabry or João Cancelo as substitutes. The depth of the bench remains a major asset for the top level, and PSG can only see the damage: it remains very far from the European elite and not only in this aspect...
Logically beaten (2-0) by the Munich residents in the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League, the capital club still suffered an early elimination on the European scene. Kylian Mbappé said it bluntly to the press: "They [Bayern] have a team built to win the Champions League. At the start of the season, during the first press conference, I said that we were going to do our best. We, our maximum, that's it and it's the truth. We are going to question ourselves and return to our daily life in the championship. »
����“They have a team built to win the Champions League. We, our maximum is that ”: the reaction of Kylian Mbappé after the elimination of the
After Barça 2017, Manchester United 2019 or Real Madrid 2022, this early end to the course says a lot about Parisian shortcomings in this competition. Successive attempts to raise the bar did not have the desired effect, starting with the coach. Christophe Galtier arrived with the hope of a breath of fresh air. But after a flamboyant month of August, his PSG quickly fell into line.
In Europe, he never managed to dominate the debates by wandering tactically. "Is it a bad season if you're just champion...?" I leave it to people to judge. Obviously there were a lot of expectations for the Champions League. The big regret is that we weren't able to fight with all our strength," Galtier said after the match at a press conference. After the failure in the Coupe de France against OM, he will have to save his season by winning Ligue 1 at all costs.
But the former coach of Lille is not the only responsible for this umpteenth debacle: it is indeed the whole Parisian project which lacks coherence and which ended up losing the essential. If he was absent from the defeat in the return match against Bayern, Neymar symbolizes well this club focused until recently on rhinestones and glitter.
Under contract until 2027, the Brazilian is a colossal industrial failure at 222 million euros. And even if statistically he has a good record, his repeated absences, especially during major events, do not plead in his favor.
Too often injured, he never regained his talent from Barça, but the Parisian staff did not dare to question it. It remains to be seen what the club's position will be on Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos. The two thirty-somethings are at the end of their contract and there are discussions to extend them. But maybe it's time to turn the page. Marketing interests have so far too often taken priority over the field, even if Nasser al-Khelaïfi had promised the end of the "bling-bling" last summer...
Even if Paris Saint-Germain have in their ranks a Kylian Mbappé in a state of grace, they will end up wearing down their striker, who had called for deep changes last summer. Not listened to on his desire to have a pivot striker in particular, the 24-year-old striker did not hesitate to put pressure on his club in the middle of the season.
This failure in Munich, which is added to so many others, will undoubtedly make him reflect on his situation in Paris. At this rate, the 2022 vice-world champion, recently awarded the title of top scorer in the history of PSG, will end up reopening the door to a departure, with Real Madrid just waiting for that. And in this case, the club of the capital would lose much more than a player.
