[Audio] Instant Reaction: Paris Saint-Germain Outplayed By Barcelona
"That lineup was criminal." PSG supporters sound off on what went wrong against Barcelona.
“Frustrating” is the best word to describe Paris Saint-Germain’s performance on Wednesday against FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. With their home supporters in full voice, Les Parisiens made a series of mistakes and mental errors that ultimately cost them the match.
The 3-2 defeat isn’t insurmountable for PSG, but the lackluster performance highlighted several problems on the pitch.
Gianluigi Donnarumma could be blamed for all three goals. The Italy international completely missed Lamine Yamal’s cross, and that led to an easy goal for Raphinha to open up the scoring for Barcelona.
In the 62nd minute, Donnarumma was at it again with a poor clearance that was intercepted by Barcelona, and Pedri played an incredible pass over the top to Raphinha for his second goal on the night.
The game-winning goal for Barcelona could be blamed on Donnarumma and Marquinhos. After Nuno Mendes made a last-ditch clearance, Barcelona took a corner, Marquinhos completely whiffed on the header, and Andreas Christensen was able to score a header from point-blank range. Despite the missed header by Marquinhos, at 6’5”, Donnarumma could have come off his line to punch it away.
Luis Enrique bears a lot of the blame as well. His starting lineup was questioned by myself and many PSG supporters. The benching of Warren Zaïre-Emery was a head-scratcher, as was the decision to start Marco Asensio over Bradley Barcola, Gonçalo Ramos, and Randal Kolo Muani.
Then there is Kylian Mbappé, who was largely invisible throughout the 90 minutes. The Frenchman recorded zero goals, zero assists, 44 touches, and three total shots. For a player of his quality, it’s not good enough, and while he was double-teamed for most of the night, he has to find a way to make a bigger impact.
On the positive side for PSG, Achraf Hakimi will return from suspension for the return leg, while Barcelona will have to overcome suspensions for Sergi Roberto and Andreas Christensen. Both Barcola and Zaïre-Emery should be healthy enough to start, and it’s hard to imagine Donnarumma and the defensive back line playing any worse than they did Wednesday night at the Parc des Princes.
The performance of Vitinha and Ousmane Dembélé should also excite PSG supporters. Vitinha is quietly becoming one of the best and consistent midfielders in Europe and for all his troubles in front of goal this season, Dembélé scored a brilliant goal against his former club. With those two players in form, the return of Hakimi, Barcola, and Zaïre-Emery, Luis Enrique will have more options available to him next week.
The one-goal deficit will motivate PSG to be more attack-minded in the return leg, which I think is when they’re at their best. If they can limit the mistakes, PSG could easily overturn this tie and advance to the semi-finals.
Audio was recorded moments after PSG’s 3-2 defeat against Barcelona via X Spaces.