Neymar and Anthony Lopes - Francois Mori / AP / SIPA

Thomas Tuchel and Rudi Garcia refused, the day before the meeting, to speak of the final of the League Cup as a preparation match before the upcoming European deadlines - namely an eighth-final second leg of the Champions League for OL, the Lisbon Final 8 for Paris.

However, to hear the two men talk after the victory on penalties for PSG, it seems that they are already looking to the future and determined to use Friday's semi-purge for their next Italian games.

In Paris, resilience but little play

Let's start with the winners. The German coach readily concedes that his team's play lacked intensity (no kidding?) But prefers to focus on the resilience of his men and their ability to suffer together. “I'm very proud of my team, they are reliable guys who enjoy playing and suffering together. [Against Atalanta Bergamo] I expect more intensity. We have to find solutions because they play in a special style. It's a very strong team. We now have 12 days to prepare for our quarter-final. "

Our opinion  : Against Bergamo in Lisbon, it will not only be a question of running faster, longer. Reducing Parisian imperfections to a kilometer deficiency on the odometer is to ignore everything else, no offense to Tuchel, who would have liked us more dithyrambic after the meeting: "we do 99 things well, and you point the 100th bad thing. The thing is, this bad thing is one big detail: his plan of attack.

#Tuchel very annoyed: "we do 99 things well, and point you to the 100th thing bad. We won a point. 4 national titles, I invite you to do the same." #OLPSG @ Europe1 # Europe1 pic.twitter.com/51db4HsCFZ

- Julien Froment (@JulienFroment) July 31, 2020

In the absence of Kylian Mbappé, Paris had no other plan B than to put the ball in the feet of Neymar and wait for him to walk on the water. The Brazilian is a player apart, and he has been able to be interesting intermittently against Lyon. But in the Champions League, against organized defenses, that will certainly not be enough. One has the impression that at present, the salvation of Paris in Europe is more likely to come from a medical prowess than from a tactical reflection. Ander Herrera, on the verge of burning a candle to speed up Mbappé's recovery: “We are optimistic for Kylian, we have seen that he can walk, he is young and very professional. He really wants to play, he works every day, morning and night. Of course his presence is very important, we hope he will play. Especially after tonight.

Rudi Garcia wants more realism against Juve

In the opposing camp, the unfortunate finalist comes out with his head held high from this encouraging defeat, a concept well known in French sport in general. Weighted down by individual bugs - Rafael's tackle, a messed up header from Denayer who lets Neymar slip into the area or even Maxwell Cornet's crosses - OL, on the other hand, demonstrated, for nearly an hour, their ability to put the foot on the ball, to manage strong times and weak times and to alternate short play and long play. Something to delight Rudi Garcia, who nevertheless expects more efficiency in the area.

“We could have been more dangerous in the second half to score. It was a closed match. There weren't enough chances on our side. In overtime, there might be a way to end this game before the penalties. We held high at Paris SG. You have to be better to score in Turin. It is a good basis for work. "

Our opinion: OL did not prove to be dangerous enough, especially given the number of shifts created on the left side or in the axis of the Parisian defense. The bad choices in the last pass and a lack of presence of Depay and Dembele in the box deprive the Lyonnais of "easy" opportunities.

Finally, defensively, the Lyonnais will have to show more rigor over the length. Beware of drafts and goal balls offered stupidly to the opponent. If Di Maria and Neymar have made a lot of gifts, not said that Cristiano Ronaldo does the same. Anthony Lopes knows his compatriot well, but he will not come out of masterclasses every game night.

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PSG - OL: Not very exciting, Paris makes the treble at the end of the night

  • Lyon
  • Sport
  • PSG
  • OL
  • Ligue's cup
  • Champions League