PARIS — For
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), each season begins
with the question of whether this might be their year in the Champions League,
which kicks off for Kylian Mbappe and his team-mates against Juventus on
Tuesday.
اضافة اعلان
In a decade of trying to get their hands on the
biggest prize in European club football since the transformational Qatari
takeover, PSG have appeared in the final just once, losing to Bayern Munich in
2020 after the pandemic forced UEFA to innovate with a “Final Eight” format.
Otherwise, it has been regular disappointment heaped
upon occasional humiliation, such as last season’s exit to Real Madrid in the
last 16, when they led 2–0 on aggregate an hour into the second leg.
PSG have spent the close season trying to ensure
that this time there is no repeat, and so in came a new coach, a new man in
charge of recruitment, and a clutch of new signings.
Most importantly, Mbappe stayed put, turning down
Real Madrid in the hope he can lead his hometown club to a first Champions
League title.
It looks like an all-or-nothing gamble for all
parties, only increasing the pressure on PSG to deliver in Europe this season,
when Lionel Messi and Neymar are still by Mbappe’s side.
The early signs for that trio are promising, leaving
aside some concerns about Mbappe’s attitude in a Ligue 1 game last month and
worries about a war of egos between him and Neymar in particular.
Neymar transformed
The Brazilian has been a
player transformed in recent months, injury concerns and doubts about his
motivation cast aside as he has scored nine goals already this season.
Neymar is playing like someone who knows what is at
stake this season, both with his club in the
Champions League and his country
at the World Cup.
The same goes for Messi, who had a poor first year
in Paris as he came to terms with leaving Barcelona.
Six games into the domestic league season and PSG
are top of the table, unbeaten, and have scored 24 goals.
New coach Christophe Galtier has settled immediately
and appears far more authoritative than predecessor Mauricio Pochettino — he
has not been afraid to take any of his three superstars off in games if he
considers it necessary.
Meanwhile, Luis Campos, the club’s new football
advisor who replaced sacked sporting director Leonardo, has overseen the start
of a revolution in the playing squad.
That is particularly the case in midfield, where
Portuguese international Vitinha has developed a promising partnership with
Marco Verratti, while compatriot Renato Sanches and Spain duo Fabian Ruiz and
Carlos Soler have also arrived.
There has been a clear-out of players who were
prominent under Pochettino and his predecessor Thomas Tuchel, with Angel di
Maria, Idrissa Gueye and Thilo Kehrer all departing.
Georginio Wijnaldum, Ander Herrera, Leandro Paredes
and Julian Draxler are among those who have left on loan.
Worrying lack of defenders
But the biggest worry in Paris
comes from the fact that PSG — who have just been fined by
UEFA again for
Financial Fair Play breaches — could not raise more money in sales.
That prevented them from bringing in a central
defender, with a move for Inter Milan’s Slovakian international Milan Skriniar
failing.
Galtier has installed a three-man central defense,
but now has no specialist back-up to the trio of Marquinhos, Presnel Kimpembe
and a creaking Sergio Ramos.
“A coach can’t always say: ‘I’m missing such and
such a player in this position’. You have to adapt,” said Galtier, who has
coached only six matches in the Champions League, all at Lille.
“I understand that there are questions about my
legitimacy, especially because at Lille we didn’t do well in the Champions
League, but that experience will still help me,” he told sports daily L’Equipe
before the season started.
He will be the fall guy if another European campaign
ends in disappointment, but first PSG will be expected to ease through a group
also containing Benfica and Maccabi Haifa.
“We have had a good start to the season, we’re scoring goals
and playing well,” Galtier said at the weekend, before warning: “But the
Champions League is another level.”
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