Only one being is missing, and everything is depopulated. To start its return matches of the group stage of the Champions League against Benfica on Tuesday, October 11, Paris Saint-Germain will once again have to do without Lionel Messi. Touched in the calf against the Portuguese last week, released as a precaution by his coach, the Argentinian is not yet able to find the lawn.
“We know the importance of Leo in our game, his state of form since the start of the season, his connections with Mbappé, Neymar, the pistons”acknowledged Parisian coach Christophe Galtier on the eve of the opposition against Benfica.
The medical point before #PSGSLB @Aspetar
— Paris Saint Germain (@PSG_inside) October 10, 2022
It’s a blow for the capital club at the start of a particularly intense week, from C1 to Classic against Marseille on Sunday evening. Since the start of the season, Lionel Messi has been stringing together good performances and brilliance. For PSG, we will have to learn to do without him.
Author of eight goals and as many assists in all competitions, Messi has missed very few games since the beginning of August (1,1043 minutes of play for a maximum total of 1,260 minutes). Still a starter, replaced at the end of the game only five times, his absence from Reims on Saturday evening was his first package of the season.
“We cannot rejoice in the absence of a player, even less when it is Lionel Messi, when we see the host he is on the offensive level”, regretted the Parisian technician. Especially since the first glimpse of life without the Argentinian brought its share of doubts and questions. Held in check on the lawn of the Auguste Delaune stadium by the Rémois (0-0), the Parisians appeared very uninspired to project themselves forward (only three shots on target).
With Messi on the sidelines, it is also the whole offensive animation that is failing. The dynamic of the “MNM”, broken, will have to be recomposed, like in recent weeks, where the three star attackers have been less used together (Neymar on the bench and Mbappé released after an hour in Nantes , Mbappé on the bench in Nice, Messi absent in Reims…). A period which coincides with half-hearted outings for the club from the capital, victories sealed by a small goal in advance, and poor performances against Benfica and Reims for two of the three draws of the season in the space of a week.
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Tuesday evening, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé will be responsible for bringing danger to the Portuguese cage, even though the relationship between the two players does not always seem to be in good shape on the pitch. Since the start of the season, the Brazilian has delivered three assists to his French teammate, as much as to Messi. But he received none in return, Mbappé still not having unlocked his counter in the last pass. “We are going to try to improve something that exists, because the Mbappé-Neymar relationship has really existed, for more than five years”assures Christophe Galtier.
In their misfortune, PSG could also take opportunities. Without the Argentinian, the Parisian staff have several options to develop their eleven. Pablo Sarabia is ready to take over without major tactical upheaval. But Galtier could also choose to change the game system. And thus relieve Kylian Mbappé, who had been critical of his position and his positioning after a match with France? “I was attentive to his statements after the France team, slipped Galtier on the eve of the match against Lisbon. He feels more comfortable in the proposed animation and the way in which the offensive sector is made up of the Blues. It’s a discussion we often have. I try to reassure him by trying to find different options.” Since we have to compose without Messi, the match against Benfica can be a first experiment. Able to give a smile to Mbappé and PSG?