Paris Saint-Germain beat Montpellier HSC 2-0 on Saturday to keep their 100% winning start to the season going. However, once more, it was the absolute bare minimum by Mauricio Pochettino’s men — especially the big guns.
It was not Kylian Mbappe or Neymar doing the damage, but Idrissa Gueye with a stunning first-half strike from distance and Julian Draxler with a late second.
Neymar, Mbappe and Angel Di Maria were once again mute in attack as Lionel Messi sat out a second consecutive match with a knee injury.
A relatively rare clean sheet will have been of scant encouragement ahead of next week’s UEFA Champions League Group A clash with Manchester City (Paramount+).
Likewise, another late Pochettino substitution paying off when the main difference-makers were once again nonchalant and wasteful.
PSG will have to be much better at home to City on Tuesday and perhaps that is the sort of fixture that this group needs to finally catch fire.
An average of almost one goal per game will encourage Pep Guardiola’s men after they finally got the better of ex-PSG boss Thomas Tuchel over the weekend.
Messi and Marco Verratti’s expected return to Parisien ranks should also have a transformative impact on the team, but how fit will either one really be?
Once more, there are far more questions than answers for Pochettino as his main star men keep firing blanks with little to no on-field identity.
It might seem premature, especially given PSG’s positive domestic results, but this has the potential to be a make or break game for Pochettino as Group A will be decidedly harder to get out of if they lose further ground on City.
Now is the time for Neymar, Mbappe and Messi to finally get it together on the pitch to give European soccer the moment it has been waiting for since this summer’s transfer binge.
