Three days after their elimination in the Champions League against Bayern Munich, the Parisians did not reassure, on Saturday, during their snatch victory in Brittany (2-1).
A sham victory, far from the stars of the Champions League. Three days after their elimination in the round of 16 of the competition against Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain found their way back to the championship on Saturday March 11 with a hard-fought victory against Brest (2 -1) at the Francis-le-Blé stadium.
A match that the Parisians won thanks to a flash from Kylian Mbappé, but which they crossed in a borrowed way. Of course, we will remember this solitary raid by the French striker, who left alone to challenge and beat Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot, at the start of additional time to give victory to his team (90th + 1). But before that, the faces and attitudes of the Parisian contingent struck.
Passive and frustrated
Kylian Mbappé could have left the field even before giving victory to PSG. Five minutes before his winning goal, at the end of a very poor second half, the Parisian got carried away against the Brestois Haris Belkebla, author of a fault, by kicking him in the stomach (86th) . A gesture revealing a tension, which could have been worth a red card to the world champion, already guilty of a sign of nervousness at the hour of play after a whistle against him from the referee (59th).
However, his behavior detonated from that of his partners, who did not always seem concerned. The lack of reaction from Christophe Galtier’s men when they conceded an avoidable Brest equalizer from Franck Honorat before the break (43rd) testifies to this. Apart from an expression of annoyance in the eyes of the club’s sports adviser, Luis Campos, in the stands, the bowed heads of the Parisian players did not reveal a revolt to come. And this, while Sergio Ramos and the young Timothée Pembélé, too high on the action, were at fault. “It’s normal that there are sometimes situations where we seemed to be less well. As the match progressed, there was fatigue, I didn’t feel any spleen”analyzed Christophe Galtier after the match.
Soler pulls out of his game
Facing the 15th in Ligue 1, Christophe Galtier’s men did not reassure, including on the attacking front. Ghostly against Bayern Munich, Lionel Messi narrowly missed in the first half, even kicking a free kick directly at his teammate Marco Verratti (33rd). If he served Kylian Mbappé at the end of the match, the Argentinian did little better for a long time after returning from the locker room, notably addressing a shot fleeing the frame from the entrance to the surface (54th).
In this nothingness, the leader of the championship can finally thank Carlos Soler, the Parisian most concerned in the attitude this Saturday evening. Substitute in Munich and often seen as a false solution to supplement the MNM on the European scene, the Spaniard showed himself from the start, giving himself the first thrill by catapulting a failed recovery from Lionel Messi on the bar of Marco Bizot (11th). Before taking advantage of an error from the Brest goalkeeper on a not very dangerous strike from Kylian Mbappé to open the scoring (36th).
If he died in the second half like his team, the former Valencia player showed his coach that he could count on him. A reason for satisfaction not to be overlooked when Paris has a provisional eleven point lead over its Marseille runner-up.