Timing is everything, as the cliché says, and for PSG, there has never been a better time for them this season. There has never been a better time for them to finally play as a team, to finally react, show up and deliver their best. There has never been a better time for this squad to find the cohesion and balance it needs at this level. Because Neymar in response to his (many) reviewers. For fans to once again believe that this team can go all the way in this Champions League campaign. The list goes on and on.
Tuesday’s clash against Bayern Munich at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday is more than just the first leg of the round of 16 in the Champions League. To begin with, there is too much risk for the leaders of Ligue 1. This is a game that could save their season or leave it buried.
Since the start of 2023, the Parisians have lost four matches in all competitions: all four were away, with defeats in the league. lensRennes and Monaco, and a modest opening in the French Cup against the opponents Marseille. That’s as much as in the whole of 2022!
No offense to the quartet that have beaten PSG at some point in the past six weeks, but Bayern are a significant step ahead of the competition: the Bundesliga team is stronger, bigger and tougher. Lionel Messi & Co. will have to do their best to knock them down with two feet, something they haven’t been able to do in a long time.
One can’t even remember their last full, convincing performance. Too many times this season, including before the World Cup, coach Christophe Galtier has relied on the individual talents of Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe And Achraf Hakimi to win games on their own or to get the team out of tough times. Now, more than ever, things are getting tough.
This team doesn’t defend well. Too many players are injured, out of form or not fit. In general, the group has also lost confidence and motivation: lost arguments between Neymar and Marquinhos and sporting director Luis Campos after Saturday’s loss to Monaco.
On the field, the Brazil international attitude towards Hugo Ekitike And vitinha, with the verbal abuse evident throughout the match, is unacceptable. Like Messi who will start later fear of his recent injury – and Mbappe, who has returned from injury and wants to start but should sit on the bench just in case, Neymar must find his best form. 31 years old is too inefficient, too wasteful, too inattentive.
Neymar said about the dispute“Football is not only about love and friendship. There is respect, but there must also be disagreements and sometimes it needs to be discussed to help you improve. We are not used to losing so of course when you lose a game, that’s it. can worry us. But it’s part of the process of getting better.”
It’s not just about “MNM” or about Neymar, who turned positive on Monday during his press conference, explaining that his confidence is “high” and that he knows the team will respond. and “play your best.” But it was also a big test for Galtier.
This match and the second leg on March 8 were the biggest matches of Galtier’s career. He couldn’t get it wrong and had to find the answer. It’s not all about him, of course. It was, of course, a hard-to-manage dressing room, rich with big personalities and big egos. Thomas Tuchel struggled at times, Mauricio Pochettino always did. It’s not easy to adopt play patterns with so many players used to starring as individuals.
It speaks to a big problem – an unbalanced roster, a roster built with limitations – and the responsibility for that rests with Campos, who has been under pressure despite being less than a year into the game. year. However, Galtier has also been disappointing so far. The positive results were there before the break, but the collective expression was never there. Before and after the World Cup, Galtier changed his tactical system many times without achieving the best effect of any formation or combination of players.
February and March are key months for PSG when it comes to Galtier and Campos’ futures with the team, but it will also have an impact on what can happen next season with Messi, Mbappe and Neymar . PSG will face Bayern twice, plus Marseille away and Lille at home during the tournament. There’s so much to lose in these four games and while they still have a five-point lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table, things can change quickly, especially if they lose the Champions League and that disappointment will spread to the rest of the campaign.
Bayern are in town for now and the history between the two clubs is a reminder that the German giants are both an example and an enemy to PSG. The French club aspires to be like Bayern both domestically and in Europe when it comes to footballing power and financial strength. PSG’s final defeat to the Bavarian side in Lisbon in 2020 is still fresh in their minds; While it’s true that your first Champions League win doesn’t always come on your first attempt, this is painful. The Parisians beat Bayern the last time they faced each other, in the quarter-finals of 2021, but this draw could go either way.
It was a big clash and the most exciting of the last 16. The performance of the two teams couldn’t be more different, with one Bayern winning and scoring while the other PSG lost and struggled. Football is often unpredictable and a team with Messi, Neymar and Mbappe can never be an outsider but right now, it’s hard to say that Bayern Munich is not a good candidate.
