PSG Up Against It In Champions League as Qatari Project Risks Drifting
Paris Saint-Germain have come to be one of Europe’s most glamorous clubs over the past ten years, but they have never won the Champions League title that their Qatari owners so coveted.
Now, however, a team stripped of superstars is drifting dangerously towards mediocrity and at risk of an unthinkable early exit from the continent’s elite club competition.
Red Bull Salzburg and PSG will face off in Austria on Tuesday in a must-win encounter if PSG wants to avoid being eliminated from the newly designed Champions League before the knockout stages.
The top 24 league teams advance to the knockout stages, but the French champions are currently 25th overall with only four points and three goals scored in five games.
The pressure is on in Salzburg, as Luis Enrique’s team still faces difficult games against Stuttgart and Manchester City, to maintain their position with ten points.
Runners-up in 2020 and semi-finalists last season, PSG have not gone out of the Champions League before the knockout rounds since 2004/05, when their biggest name was Portuguese striker Pedro Miguel Pauleta.
PSG fans have grown used to seeing famous players like Neymar, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappe since Qatar Sports Investments acquired the business in 2011 and started investing in them.
Following last season, Mbappe’s departure marked a change in direction, with PSG choosing to concentrate on creating a new team with young talents who haven’t proven themselves.
The likes of Warren Zaire-Emery, Joao Neves and Bradley Barcola, all aged between 18 and 22, are now regulars in Luis Enrique’s team, while France winger Ousmane Dembele is probably the most recognisable face.
READ ALSO:  , Mbappe ‘ Can Do Better ‘ As Troubled Real Madrid Visit Atalanta
Empty seats ,
Despite drawing their previous two games, PSG still manages to remain five points clear of the top of the table as a result of the change in strategy.
However, their European performances have been subpar and frequently mediocre due to struggles to impose themselves on players like Arsenal and Bayern Munich.
The 48, 000-capacity Parc des Princes has empty seats now common sight at many PSG home games, which is especially concerning given the club’s interest in the possibility of building a much bigger new ground in the suburbs.
Without the explosive pace of Mbappe, the skills of Neymar or the charisma of Ibrahimovic, much of PSG’s football under Luis Enrique this season has been one-paced, even boring.
It raises questions about the club’s future direction, which has recently established itself as one of the biggest sporting brands in the world.
‘ Solid foundations’ ,
“Dream less big” said one headline in sports daily L’Equipe last week, in a twist on the club’s motto of “Dream Bigger”.
If PSG fails in the Champions League, will it be impossible not to believe that is the case if they are asked “Are PSG beginning to decline?” another headline was added to the same publication.
The PSG team in Ligue 1 has the most goals scored and the fewest concedes. In the Champions League it is more difficult”, Luis Enrique said after Friday’s 0-0 draw at Auxerre.
“We’ll try to win in Salzburg and get goals,” he declared. We have no safety net, but that is our aim”.
If Europe’s performance is not improved, Luis Enrique is aware that his attention will be drawn ever closer to him.
Recent reports have suggested that the Spaniard and some of his top players are at odds with his management style.
Luis Campos, the director of football, is unsure of his future after the season’s end.
However, PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi is sticking by Luis Enrique, telling L’Equipe: “We have a strategy for the short, medium and long term and I have full faith in the coach and players.
Our project has strong foundations, and we will continue to build on them.
If PSG do not quickly strengthen their foundations in the Champions League starting on Tuesday, those foundations will be much weaker.
Source: Channels TV
Leave a Reply