Paris Saint-Germain are used to curses in the Champions League and proved it once again on Wednesday 2 November. Winner on the lawn of Juventus Turin after a bitter fight (2-1), PSG gave up first place in group H to Benfica Lisbon, which won at the same time on the lawn of Maccabi Haifa (6-1). The criterion for deciding between the two teams tied at the top of the group? The sixth is the number of away goals scored by the Portuguese club.
“We knew about this possibility. But it may be unique, the first time it happens. (…) We often say that this competition is irrational, we are living it tonight“, Christophe Galtier smiled bitterly after the match against Juve. So, is fate there for something? Or can PSG blame itself for finding itself in this unprecedented situation, almost worthy of the greatest Parisian disappointments in C1 in recent seasons?
1 – This is the first time in the history of the Champions League that 2 teams finish at the top of their group while having the same number of points, goals scored and goals conceded (14 points, 16 goals scored for 7 collected for Benfica and Paris). Unlikely. pic.twitter.com/UhPvgbz3M5
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) November 2, 2022
In reality, a bit of both, because Benfica took advantage of the resignation of the Maccabi defense to score two goals in the last five minutes of their game. But PSG has in fact gradually dropped this first place, all alone, like a grown-up. First, during the double confrontation against Benfica. In the first leg (1-1), on October 5, as on the return to the Parc des Princes on October 11 (1-1), Paris led against the Portuguese club. Before stopping play and conceding the equaliser.
It is not a question of rewriting history but by beating Benfica at least once, which PSG had ample means to do, the capital club would not be there. Because despite everything, the Parisians had a good group stage, as Galtier recalled on Wednesday evening: “I want to congratulate my team, my players, my group, we took 14 points, scored a lot of goalsParis even beat Juventus twice, becoming the first French club in history to win in Turin.
Insufficient, however, to finish first in the group. And with hindsight, the two meetings against Juve also leave regrets. In the first leg, on September 6, Paris largely dominated the Old Lady and should have won much more than a mere 2 goals to 1. In the return match, Wednesday evening, only Kylian Mbappé seemed involved offensively, to the point that Paris had the greatest difficulty in winning against a very poor Juve at the start of the season.
Benfica win Group H on goals scored away from home in the section #UCL pic.twitter.com/vCukf4TRBA
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 2, 2022
With a few more goals scored against Juventus, PSG would have relied on their favorable goal difference to finish ahead of Benfica in the standings. Paris and its coach Christophe Galtier can also blame themselves for not having found defensive stability with no clean sheet (zero goals conceded in a match) during this group stage.
Winner against Maccabi Haifa in the first leg (3-1) on September 14, as in the return (7-2) on October 25, Paris may regret these three goals conceded against the Israeli club. But also another aspect, raised in a press conference by Galtier on Wednesday after the match against Juve: “Leading 7-2 last week, we stopped playing in the 90th minute. That’s also the details that come into play.“
Against Maccabi, at the Parc des Princes, the referee had indeed decided to whistle the end of the match without additional time, while with four goals and ten changes in the second period, PSG should have benefited from at least four minutes. more to try to score an eighth goal which would have made sense today. By comparison, Benfica scored their sixth goal on Wednesday night in the fourth minute of added time when they were already 5-1 up.
A multitude of negative details that put PSG in second place in their group. Paris will therefore tremble on November 7 in the draw for the round of 16 with the possibility of falling on a big chunk (Real Madrid, Manchester City, Naples, Bayern Munich, Porto, Tottenham or Chelsea). After having been partly unlucky at the end of the group stage, the capital club now hope that providence will help them during the rest of the competition, from February.