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Post: Desperate Stars: PSG facing another Champions League failure?

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Bayern defeated PSG away in the first leg of the Champions League 1/8 final.

The Champions League has returned from a three-month hiatus and immediately gave fans the most anticipated match of the 1/8 finals – the match between PSG and Bayern. However, it was not possible to justify the expectations of the fans, because the teams played brilliant football only at the end of the match.

PSG showed nothing before Mbappé’s release

The main intrigue was not even the result, but Kylian Mbappe’s participation in the match, in which the entire series unfolded. The Frenchman was injured in a recent match with Montpellier, after which the Parisians said the striker would miss his first match with Bayern. And then the real circus began.

PSG Technical Director Christophe Galtier first said that Mbappe would definitely not enter the Parc des Princes field, and then gave hope to the Parisian fans. He got to the point where he wanted his rival Julian Nagelsmann not to fool him and deceive the public.

As a result, Kylian remained on the bench and was replaced by 16-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery, the youngest player in the starting 11 in Champions League playoff history. But youth and enthusiasm did not help the hosts in any way – PSG overplayed in the first half and could not oppose anything to Bayern.

In the first half, the hosts dealt only one blow to the gates of the Germans, and then crashed past the target. Bayern pressed gently eight minutes after the restart of the match and waited for their chance. Kingsley Coman was forgotten by the defenders and calmly polished Gianluigi Donnarum.

Mbappe was sadly watching Comana’s goal, who was already preparing to take the field at that time. Striker “PSG” played for more than half an hour, adding to the game of the Parisians the case that they lack so much. Before Kylian was released, Lionel Messi and Neymar could do nothing offensively. Bayern easily dealt with the star couple as if they were defending against attackers from outside the Bundesliga.

Kilian repeatedly evaded his opponents and created several dangerous moments. And he even scored a goal in the 83rd minute but was canceled due to a microscopic offside. At the end of the match, there was a clear feeling that if Mbappe had been ready to play for the full 90 minutes, the goals scored column certainly wouldn’t have been left to PSG’s “steering wheel”.

Failure will destroy PSG project

The defeat to Bayern was a logical continuation of the troubles that haunted the Parisians after the World Cup. In 2023, PSG won only three of the seven matches in the championship and managed to fly out of the French Cup.

Galtier’s main problem after the resumption of the season is the offensive play of the star trio. Before the World Cup, Messi, Mbappe and Neymar smashed Ligue 1 and quietly led the team to the Champions League qualifiers. Now the advantage in the championship has been reduced to five points and the chances of winning the main club tournament in Europe are close to zero.

Losing can be the catalyst for big changes at the club. A year and a half ago, the Sheikhs managed to build one of the most stellar offensive lines in football history, which has so far failed to do anything significant. Seriously, PSG can win Ligue 1 without Neymar and Messi, who are invited to solve more ambitious challenges.

If in the second match the Parisians do not perform a miracle and fly out of the Champions League in the 1/8 final stage, then the whole project can wait for reconstruction. For several months now, French media have been reporting that Messi is still considering a career that may or may not be linked to Paris. And recent rumors say PSG bosses are gearing up for summer in case Messi and Neymar leave the club.

And it will become increasingly difficult to keep Mbappe at a club that takes Champions League defeats every year. Of course money is always important, but how long will Kylian last as he looks at other teams’ victories every year in Europe’s main tournament? So on March 8, when the teams play a return match, PSG’s fate in the coming years can be determined.

The opinion of the author may not coincide with the opinion of the editors.

Source: Ria

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