Paris Saint-Germain’s unbeaten start to the season is over after a 2-0 loss away at Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka’s goals were enough for the Gunners at Emirates Stadium despite Luis Enrique seeing his side hit the woodwork multiple times in the second round of League Phase play.
It was a familiar script for PSG to last season’s UCL semifinal frustration against Borussia Dortmund with plenty of possession and sights of goal but not enough cutting edge. However, a new twist on top of Kylian Mbappe no longer being there for the French giants was the surprise omission of Ousmane Dembele whose brilliance took them into the final four.
The France international being left out was a major talking point pregame along with Les Parisiens’ most recent trip to England resulting in a chastening 4-1 thrashing by Newcastle United. Surprising even further was Randal Kolo Muani starting as a substitute once more along with Fabian Ruiz who was so impressive at UEFA Euro 2024 with Spain this summer.
As it turned out, albeit not too surprisingly, Dembele’s maverick creativity and trickery was sorely missed on the right while lightweight makeshift attacking experiments can work in Ligue 1 but not in the UCL. The insistence on an out-of-form Warren Zaire-Emery was also questionable from Luis Enrique given that his slide has been evident for quite some time.
Lee Kang-in and Desire Doue were preferred going forward while Vitinha was reinstated to the midfield after injury yet it was over an hour before the Spaniard elected to make any changes. Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi did provide plenty of width going forward with the Portuguese in particular showing his attacking teeth when he hit the post at 1-0 down.
However, neither full back is renowned for defensive solidity and that was part of PSG’s undoing in London with two avoidable goals conceded. True, Mendes hit a post and Joao Neves also hit the bar in the second half as the Ligue 1 champions chased a goal, but Paris had precious little to show for it at the end of the game and remain vulnerable in the air.
“It was a difficult start for us as we could not escape their pressure and it took us a while to start pressing,” said captain Marquinhos postgame. “We made mistakes and paid for them with the goals and they took advantage of our weaknesses with two goals from crosses. The game will help us in the future.
“We came to play well and did not do so from the start. It was complicated but we were better in the second half and more aggressive. We are a team that plays with the ball, enjoys possession and tries to lure the opponent in to create space. We did not do that early on and they got the two first half goals.”
For all the debate about tactical gambles from Luis Enrique, though, the biggest gamble feels like the continued persistence with Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal after two more big errors. The Azzurri star was at fault when he misjudged the flight of the ball as it made its way in via Havertz’s header after 20 minutes before his failure to track Saka’s set piece 15 minutes later.
Despite Donnarumma’s proven quality internationally, there have been too many high profile blunders during his time with PSG. What is most staggering of all about it is how entirely predictable it all is to the point that it renders moot much of the discussion about what Luis Enrique will have seen on the field from his players.
“Frankly, I will not single anyone out in defeat here,” said Luis Enrique postgame. “If that was the case then I would say that this loss is mine. Our opponents were better in terms of pressuring us and in the duels. They took fewer risks after the break and our defeat was merited.”
Individually, Lee, Willian Pacho and Neves did not look out of their depth but the setup was not conducive to getting the best out of star man Barcola while Doue is not truly a wide man and was also injured lately. The combination of no Dembele, Lee at false nine over the fixed focal point of Kolo Muani and Ruiz not playing from the off was arguably as good as setting PSG up to fail though.
“We will have to wait until the end of this season to know the real level of our team,” added Luis Enrique. “There will be other high-level games which will allow us to assess where we stand.”
PSG looked better after the changes, but hardly that much more impressive and it feels very similar to this time last year when the new-look French giants were considered a work in progress. Based on this display, they remain a work in progress which could yet pay off further down the line although there is no guarantee that anything comes to fruition this year.
