The Parisians came close to elimination before finally qualifying for the round of 16 of the competition after their draw against Dortmund on Wednesday (1-1).
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Six Champions League matches have passed, and it is still impossible to know what this PSG version of Luis Enrique is really worth. Like every year since the arrival of the Qataris in 2011, the Parisians will be there in the round of 16. But this time, the doubts are at least as numerous as the certainties. If the essential is acquired, the manner is still as muddled, the efficiency absent and the content random from match to match in this campaign.
It was enough to see Kylian Mbappé’s reaction of disappointment at the final whistle – yet synonymous with qualification – to understand where this PSG is: stuck between expectations that are still so high and a team still under construction after the commotion of the summer with the departure of Lionel Messi and Neymar. “There has been a lot of change, only 4, 5 players from last year have stayed, there are new players who have to adapt to Paris and everything that goes around. But with time, with the matches we will get there”Marquinhos said on Wednesday.
Luis Enrique, sometimes entangled in his tactical certainties, is still not unanimous. The Parisian starting eleven is still not clearly established, with Wednesday the start of the will-o’-the-wisp Lee Kang-In and the young Bradley Barcola rather than the rough Manuel Ugarte, whose safety profile could have suited a match with such high stakes .
Efficiency in C1 still remains at the heart of the questions, since Warren Zaire-Emery put an end to a sad series of 54 shots (excluding penalties) without scoring for PSG in C1, even if Nasser Al-Khelaïfi preferred to salute the numerous Parisian occasions Tuesday. “We played with our level and our offensive style, we want to continue. We signed Luis Enrique for an attacking game. One match we can score and win, the other not, like today, even if we have a lot used“, qualified the Parisian president.
Consistency and efficiency, the two major projects
Consistency simply does not exist in this C1 campaign, since Paris has never had two victories in a row, and has even conceded two heavy defeats (4-1 against Newcastle, 3-0 against Milan), which had never happened to him in twelve years of the QSI era. “We have to work on our strength, and our strength is not to stay behind and wait for the opponent to come and get us.
There are a lot of improvements to be made, even the coach says it: we haven’t yet reached what he wants to do.” underlines Marquinhos.
The minimum qualification acquired, Paris can therefore breathe. But the work remains significant, while he will have to come up against a European leader in the eighth, since Borussia took the lead of the group during this last day. It could therefore be Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or even Arsenal. And the figures do not speak in favor of PSG: no club having scored 8 points during the group stage has subsequently been champion since this format in 2003-2004. Worse: 72% of those did not even make it past the round of 16 (13/18).
A new identity to forge
But despite all these persistent doubts that a qualification by a mouse hole will not be able to erase, Paris perhaps created something on Wednesday evening, by resisting the yellow wall of Signal Iduna Park. PSG, which, under the QSI era, sometimes went through its group stages only to crash brutally against a wall in the round of 16, this time got its hands dirty in all the matches to secure its qualification. “We had the objective of finishing first, but it was much more complicated, especially with the away matches. We are happy all the same, we come out of a not easy group, we are satisfied”greeted Al-Khelaïfi.
It is perhaps through this tortuous path that the Parisian club will have to build its identity to be ready for each challenge that comes its way. “I believe we are at the very beginning of construction. I really like the attitude of the players and their ability to fight. I like their frustration, I have no doubt about our ability to improve. I believe that in February we will be stronger”, ambitioned Luis Enrique. PSG has no margin and still a lot of work, but it has the energy of a team that has everything to prove and much less to lose than in previous years. And this is undoubtedly the biggest change at the dawn of the C1 round of 16.