The disappointment is immense in the fans and in the media environment of PSG after the umpteenth failure of the Parisian team in the Champions League. The ambitions of the Qatari owner have once again collided with reality. Money and stars are not enough when character, discipline and stability are lacking in the project.
“PSG is a success in marketing and merchandising, but not in sports,” Geoffroy, a veteran fan, lamented bitterly yesterday. They sell millions of shirts and fill the stadiums on international tours, but it is a team of mercenaries and the coaches do not impose themselves”.
Criticism in the press of the management of the Qatari owners, who do not give stability to the sports project
Despite the fatalism that accompanies the fans rouge et blue In their European challenges, many saw it as possible to pass the Munich test. Blind trust in Mbappé. “With him everything is possible,” he titled You parisian on Tuesday. The newspaper even commissioned a survey of more than a thousand people. 60% said that the classification was feasible. Yesterday, the newspaper opted for a photo of Messi on the cover. “Paris, ingloriously eliminated,” he wrote.
Leo Messi laments in the Allianz Arena, this past Wednesday in Munich
more severe was L’Equipe. “This new premature elimination marks the failure of an entire club, especially its management,” read the front page. Again Messi was the protagonist, as a symbol of the shipwreck in the Bavarian capital. The sports newspaper chose as a photo the moment in which Thomas Müller helped the Argentine to get up from the pitch.
In his editorial, L’Equipe He recognized the unfortunate situation of the French teams in European competitions and, regarding PSG in particular, he put his finger on the management’s sore spot, since the club “has continued to offer stability to players who don’t deserve it”, and “instability to his sporting power, lacking in vision”.
The elimination of the Champions League once again questions everything in the Parque de los Príncipes, starting with the coach, the eternal scapegoat for impatient owners, as well as the future of Mbappé and Messi.
Kylian Mbappé watches the Bayern Munich players celebrating a goal, last Wednesday at the Allianz Arena
The continuity of Christophe Galtier is threatened. Rumor has it that PSG could re-sign an old acquaintance, Thomas Tuchel. Five months after being fired in Paris, in December 2020, the German won the Champions League with Chelsea. Al Jelaifi has not digested it. Another unavoidable name is Zinédine Zidane. Pep Guardiola is even mentioned. But no one is under any illusions. “The problem is elsewhere, higher,” he pointed out. You figaro. “PSG must go back to being a football club, guided by 100% sporting decisions, and not the showcase of MNM (Messi, Neymar, Mbappé),” added the conservative newspaper.
The months that remain until the end of the season will be very long in Paris. PSG can only win the League because they have already been knocked out of the French Cup. The league title is insufficient compensation after 12 years of gigantic investment in players. The reaction of the most faithful and demanding fans, the Colectivo Ultras París, who have their fiefdom in the Curva Auteuil, the north goal, remains to be seen in the next games. On its website, PSG appealed yesterday to lift their spirits. He resorted to a Latin phrase, fluctuate nec Mergitur (beaten by the waves, but not sunk), the motto of the city of Paris. It doesn’t seem like a very convincing argument.
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Messi: continuity in doubt. Leo Messi suspended in Munich, according to le parisien and L’Equipe. Both gave him a 3. Eliminated from the Champions League, new doubts arise about his continuity, since his third year in Paris is in negotiations. The French press assures that, after winning the World Cup, he is tempted to finish his career in Miami or Saudi Arabia. But nothing should be ruled out, not even that he continue in Paris.
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Mbappé: the temptation of Madrid. Kylian Mbappé’s performance against Bayern was disappointing, but he is still the player with the best future. The contract with PSG binds him until 2024. However, his ambition to win the highest European title and the Ballon d’Or push him towards Real Madrid. He was about to sign last year, but resigned in exchange for a lot of money and after pressure from Macron.
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Neymar: a very expensive whim. Neymar has not performed at PSG what could be expected for the price of his transfer in 2017 –222 million euros paid to Barça–, due to his lifestyle, his irregularity and his frequent injuries, but he renewed until 2027. There is always speculation that it will end up being sold or transferred. He alternates some phases of great football with downturns, injuries and controversies over his parties.
