He wanted the Champions League to help them grow. Tuesday, on the eve of the match against Leipzig, it is a Georginio Wijnaldum not yet fully installed in his new club who arrived in the mixed zone. If his team did not come out of the shock against Leipzig (2-2), he scored points on Wednesday, November 3.
Major player of Klopp’s Liverpool, with 46 games on average over the last four seasons, Wijnaldum has struggled to find his place in the Parisian collective he joined in the offseason. Tuesday, at a press conference, he conceded: “I need to get to know my new teammates better. It’s a new start for me with a new club and a new manager. It takes time to get used to each other and form a very good team that knows each other well.”
Holder left in the middle against Bruges, replacing Verratti against City, then Herrera against Leipzig, each time in a 4-3-3, he was finally aruled the center of the game in a 4-2-3-1 Wednesday. Neymar and Di Maria by his side. In the first act, he was initially one of the few to hold the house in a submerged midfield. Higher than his middle counterparts, Gueye and Danilo, he suffered less from the wrath of the unleashed German circles.
It was ultimately against the course of the game that Wijnaldum stood out. On the only occasion in Paris, he scored the first goal of his own, in the 21st minute. It is also one of the only movements of the Mbappé-Di Maria-Neymar trio. Still silent under the colors of PSG until then, the Dutchman exploded in the arms of his teammates. Like a deliverance.
DOUBLE FOR WIJNALDUM! The rebirth of the Dutch. He deceives the porter of Leipzig with a point-blank head. PSG regains the advantage. pic.twitter.com/sup0vYe59X
– RMC Sport (@RMCsport) November 3, 2021
More busy running behind the Red and Whites of Leipzig than delivering pancakes to his attackers, the Dutchman was discreet, like his team. Before coming out of his box again, to deliver his own in a hold-up fashion shortly before the break.
On one of the rare Parisian corners in this first period, it was again he who received a discount from his captain Marquinhos to then place his head in the net.
2 – Georginio Wijnaldum scored 2 or more goals in a single match in the European Top 5 tcc for the first time since May 2019, already in the Champions League, with Liverpool against Barcelona. Saviour. #RBLPSG pic.twitter.com/rGW40TgEHL
– OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 3, 2021
More discreet in the second half, he left the keys of the truck to Neymar. Often unhooked, it is the Brazilian who took control of the game. It was also he who sinned in the conclusion after a good job from Wijnaldum (63rd). Leipzig’s equalizer in the 90th + 2 appears as a symbol, while the Dutchman was replaced in the 85th by Ander Herrera.
After a mixed start to the season, the former Liverpool player was one of the few Parisians to survive Wednesday night. In a midfield under construction, as evidenced by the performances of Gueye and Danilo, he could have scored points. Now remains to be confirmed, and to win a little in the collective of Pochettino. After this double against Leipzig, one thing is certain, his teammates will know him better, as he wished.