I’d be shocked if Christophe Galtier isn’t sacked if PSG don’t advance to the quarterfinals. PSG have blown yet another crucial Champions League match as they fell 1-0 to Bayern Munich, forcing them to have to win in Munich to progress.
PSG is cursed. There’s no other way this club can constantly fail at the Champions League level with the overwhelming talent, financial backing, and fan support the club has without a curse being involved. And here I thought Pogba was only cursing Mbappe.
Anyway, being serious, PSG are on the precipice of another disastrous season as they are looking at an early Champions League for the second straight season. In truth, ever since PSG made it all the way to the Final in 2020, the club and this current batch of players have done nothing but regress in both the French League and their Champions League campaigns.
They lost the Ligue 1 title race to Lille in 2020/21, they lost to Man City in the Semi-Finals in the Champions League in 2020/21, they failed to reach 90 points as the champions in League 1 last season (which they accomplished the three prior title races they won before the COVID-19 pandemic), and they were also humiliated by Real Madrid in the Round of 16 in the Champions League last season as they gave up two late goals in Paris to get knocked out.
Oh, and don’t forget that this was after they bought Leo Messi, Nuno Mendes, Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Renato Sanchez, Hugo Ekitike, Carlos Soler, Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha, both hired and fired Mauricio Pochettino, and resigned Kylian Mbappe for two more years at the club.
Clearly, this PSG side has not lacked for investment or player quality in the years since the 2020 Champions League Final loss, but rather the motivation and/or capability to win.
I know it’s harsh to criticize the motivation and/or capabilities of players, but how else can you explain PSG getting humiliated year after year in the Champions League by equal or lesser opposition? I mean, yesterday’s game against Bayern Munich pretty much proved that this team lacks the motivation/capability of the PSG side.
Not only did they lose 1-0 to a Bayern team that went down to 10 men (Benjamin Pavard was sent off late) and started Eric Choupo-Moting (who’s a good player, but not a starting striker of a Champion League contender) at striker, but they also were outshot 18 vs. 9, out-possessed 54% vs. 46%, were out-passes 588 vs. 508, and Bayern Munich finished the game with an 90% passing accuracy.
Sure, PSG had an 87% passing accuracy, but how can you allow a team to virtually pass through the midfield at will and expect to win? Well…you don’t.
And what makes this loss even more painful is the fact that PSG’s “Big 3” of Leo Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe all played a part in this game and the club still was unable to score a goal. Yes, Mbappe had two offside goals chalked off, but they were blatantly offsides and never would have stood before the days of VAR.
Moreover, the result of this game shouldn’t have been a shock for any fan of the club as PSG has been faltering in their domestic campaign too. They were dumped out of the Coupe de France a week ago by their archrivals Marseille, they just lost 3-1 to Monaco in the league, and they are only 5 points ahead of their Southern France opponents in Ligue 1 (PSG: 54 PTS; Marseille: 49 PTS).
PSG are legit in freefall, and now need to win in Munich to advance to the quarterfinals.
Yeah…good luck with that, PSG.
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