The French Galácticos era of this football club needs to end now, or else this team will never win. PSG has been knocked out in the Round of 16 for the 5 times in the last 7 years, with Bayern Munich being the side to dump them out this season with a 3-0 agg. win.
The French Galácticos, or what I’m going to call this side from now on, is just like the original Real Madrid Galácticos in the mid 2000’s. Only this team is far less successful, cohesive, and likeable.
Despite having Leo Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar (for the first leg), Marco Verratti, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz, Achraf Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, Juan Bernat, and Hugo Ekitike all either in the starting lineup or making appearances from the bench, PSG scored a grand total of zero goals against Bayern Munich’s defense.
Now, I don’t want to make it sound like I’m trashing Bayern’s backline of Alphonso Davies, Matthijs de Ligt, Dayot Upamecano, Josip Stanišić, and Yann Sommer as they are all great players and worthy of the historic Munich shirt, but, apart from Davies, that wasn’t a backline that was known for its pure speed, agility, or athleticism.
In other words, it’s an embarrassment that Kylian Mbappe, Leo Messi, and Neymar couldn’t score a single goal against this backline, let alone win the tie.
Of course, Bayern Munich is a great team that has a real shot of winning the competition this season, but these two games against were far too easy for them from a Paris perspective. Bayern’s midfield of Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich, Thomas Muller, and Jamal Musila controlled both matches with relative ease, allowing their forwards and wingers to get at PSG’s shaky backline time and again.
Again, I know these Bayern midfielders are league champions, Champions League winners, and World Cup winners, but PSG also has some of the best players in the world in their squad (and one of the greatest ever in Leo Messi).
To only register 8 shots on target in 2 games (while Bayern had 10) with the likes of Messi, Neymar, and Mbappe up front says a lot about how much effort, passion, and motivation these players (as in the whole group, not just the front three) give to the club.
It must have been humiliating for all the PSG fans to watch the Bayern midfield and attack tear through PSG to score two official goals (Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry) and two disallowed goals (Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Sadio Mane), while PSG could only manage to force one goal-line clearance out of de Ligt.
And even that was out of a Bayern mistake as Yann Sommer thought he was Maradona reincarnate for a second as he tried to pass the ball out from his own box.
Personally, I thought PSG were going to win this game as they not only had more flexibility in how Galtier could line up the side with Neymar’s injury, but they also looked extremely dangerous when Mbappe came on in the final quarter of the first leg. Sure, Mbappe’s presence alone was never going to guarantee a win for the French Champions in Munich, but he should have at least helped facilitate a few goals.
I mean, what are PSG actually paying Mbappe for if not to score/create goals in the biggest games against the best sides of Europe?
Though, I can’t just blame Mbappe as the whole team looked dreadful and uninterested. Just like the Real Madrid Galácticos teams of the mid 2000’s.
Similarly to this PSG side who has only bought players based on their brand recognition and standing, the Galácticos era of Real Madrid was turned into a circus show by club president Florentino Perez, who still runs the club today, as he made dreadful firings, marketing-based signings, engaged in corrosive internal politics, and favored “marketable football” over winning football.
And, for being a greedy moron (which he still is), Perez’s beloved Madrid suffered terribly as they failed to win a single trophy from 2003-05, even though they had Zinedine Zidane, Iker Casillas, Ronaldo (the original one), Roberto Carlos, Michael Owen, Luis Figo, Raul, Sergio Ramos, Robinho, and David Beckham.
Unfortunately for PSG fans, the club’s owners and hierarchy have made the exact same mistakes as Perez…but they failed to learn from them unlike the ancient Madrid president did. After those three barren years and a resignation in 2006, Perez came back into the fold in 2009 and has guided Madrid into one of its most successful periods in team history due to his wise managerial appointments and football-based decisions.
Sure, there was still Galactico signings, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho (as manager), Gareth Bale, James Rodriquez, and Toni Kroos, but these were all made with purpose and designed to improve the starting 11, not just Madrid’s shirt sales and global brand.
The PSG ownership has just bought superstar players, such as Neymar, Leo Messi, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Fabian Ruiz, etc., with no plan or intention of building a cohesive squad around them. It’s just a group of 20 or so highly talented, skilled players trying to win matches on their own for a club that not only just cares for their marketability, but also was elevated far above its historical status too quickly.
I’m all for smaller clubs getting wealthy owners and becoming competitive, but history has shown that the best way to do so is through growth, patience, and stoicism. See Newcastle United and Manchester City for example.
PSG’s Galácticos approach has gone just like Florentino Perez and Real Madrid’s 1st Galácticos era…down the toilet.
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