"PSG shows limits at the collective level" according to Jérôme Rothen

In the comments of the matches for RMC Sports, the former left midfielder of the club analyzes the two semi-finals with caution for the French clubs

PSG players with their coach Thomas Tuchel after their victory against Atalanta on August 12, 2020. - David Ramos / AP / SIPA

Comments for RMC Sports, Jérôme Rothen replied 20 minutes before the two historic semi-finals of the Champions League of PSG and OL.
The former Parisian thinks that PSG will qualify against Leipzig on the condition that his midfielder increases his level of play.
For OL, on the other hand, he is much less optimistic.

From our special correspondent in Lisbon,

There are not many in French football who can talk about a Champions League final with the experience of having made one. Jérôme Rothen, RMC Sports consultant for the comments of the Final 8 in Lisbon, was the last player in French football, in 2004 with Monaco against Porto. The opportunity to compare this memory with the former left-hander of PSG with the courses of our two semi-finalist clubs, Paris and Lyon, and more generally to analyze the forces involved. Without having the immense hope of having to comment on a Franco-French final on Sunday evening. Principle of reality.

When you see two French teams so close to the goal, do you think back to Monaco in 2004?

Yes even if each epic is a little personal. It's difficult to make comparisons but what is certain is that I feel what the players think and feel. Deep inside me there are always memories, even if it starts to be far away (laughs). The Champions League is something magical. I feel privileged to comment on these meetings, especially today since it is behind closed doors and there are very few people at the stadium. It's sad but it's like that. I feel a lot of joy, but it goes beyond my consultant framework. It is the French football fan who speaks, and then also the heart because PSG is always something that is anchored in me. And to see that this club can reach the final of the Champions League, it's wonderful.

Paradoxically, isn't it OL that reminds you a little more of what you experienced with Monaco in 2004, due to the a little more unexpected nature of their presence?

I am not sure. I can understand that the journalists think that Paris is one of the favorites, even the favorite with Bayern Munich. Me, I have more perspective on this. It is not because you put in a lot of money, that you have purring names that you are the favorite. PSG had shown limits at the collective level before the competition and I still think so today. Even if Leipzig, after the fact you tell yourself that it is not a bad draw, that it could have been much worse, I do not tell myself that there are three classes of difference between the two teams.

So for me I don't make it the favorite team of this competition. It's similar to what we experienced with Monaco. Lyon, it's more surprising… I'm not taking anything away from Lyonnais because it's wonderful to be in the Champions League semi-finals, and it's a well-oiled team, which knows what to do . But it still lacks personality offensively. The emotion was there against Manchester City and Juve, and in the comments it was fantastic to live. But looking back, you tell yourself that there are still some gaps and that the Lyon epic did not fall from the sky, but almost.

OL side, we feel that the defensive phase and the first part of the construction are not bad, but that in the last third of the field, it lacks presence, it fishes in the last pass and the last move ...

It sucks a lot and then ... Well, I don't speak of luck, I prefer to use the term success, and success must be provoked. Lyon provokes her, and so much the better. They provoked it in Turin through a penalty obtained which is limited. They hardly attacked in the second half in Italy and yet they held on. Against City it's the same, you had the impression that at 1-0 it was good, as soon as there was the equalizer very clearly City took the upper hand and Lyon scored on a counter, a goal awarded despite a fault.

In the end, Lyon scored three times out of five shots on target. Being as effective in modern football almost never happens. It happens to Lyonnais, so much the better, but it shows limits with the ball. We have the feeling that the more the match progresses, the more there is only one player who can make the difference, Aouar. He can serve the attackers and they can score because the opposing team is playing high and getting caught behind their backs, which was the case with City. It is only during this phase of the game that they can score, otherwise it is very complicated. But it is also their merit, they believe in it until the end.

Is the feat doable against Bayern?

Uhhhh (laughs). I was in the first leg of Bayern at Chelsea and I said at the time that this team is a UFO. They are strong everywhere, have reference players in almost every position. They are strong collectively, it's oiled up, with a coach sure of his ideas. It is difficult, beforehand, to think that Lyon will eliminate Bayern. But there is this formula, on a match, and there is what Lyon did. We can criticize the play of Juve, City, but it has happened twice. This Lyon team knows how to thwart the opponent. What Rudi Garcia has put in place defensively, hat.

You can criticize it on a lot of things and I was the first to do it all last year, because when you have such players you sometimes cannot make certain copies in the use of the ball, as was the case. case last year. But defensively it's consistent, the players believe it, the collective has been formed. If the collective is not strong, you cannot exist at the high level. So if they manage to be on the same density in the middle and behind, why not? Despite everything, I have the feeling that Bayern, even when they are going to be blocked in the 30 meters from Lyon, they will find solutions. Because they have magicians in all lines.

Jérôme Rothen imagines a final between Bayern and PSG. - THIERRY LEFOUILLE / SIPA

In the attitude, we have the impression of seeing real killers at Bayern. Even in the 90th, they continue to want to push the opponent ...

Guys take so much pleasure in passing, creating chances and scoring goals that it's a habit, they never stop. The coach could tell them to manage 5 or 1 / 6th against Barça because there is a half behind but the guys are in euphoria, they continue and even the substitutes get started. Against Barça, Coutinho enters and plants two goals. Frankly, if Lyon go to the final, they will have already won the Cup. Because between Juve, Manchester City and Bayern, it's difficult to do better (laughs).

Let’s come back to PSG and those collective problems you were talking about. Are there any positive points to be drawn from the game against Atalanta despite everything?

Frankly, when we take away the Mbappé / Neymar agreement, the XXL match of Neymar and the stoppages of Navas… The engine of a team is the middle, you have to have a middle with a large volume of play, capable of making good shifts, good balls exits, to be solid defensively. And on the Atalanta match, without Neymar, it is complete nothing in the middle. And it was only Atalanta, with individual marking. The response of Herrera, Gueye and Marquinhos was to pass back.

Fortunately, there were flashes to allow PSG to win but now it will be necessary for Tuchel to find the right solution in the middle. The Leipzig midfielder with Laimer, Kampl, Sabitzer, they are guys who can run 48 hours and they are not clumsy. PSG are able to bring danger through individual exploits, even more with Di Maria and Mbappé holders, but I hope they will be more inspired in the midfield. I think Paredes will play and put PSG in the right direction with his passes. If so, PSG will be in the final. But to go to the Champions League final, you have to show something other than what Paris has shown so far.

Did you like the format of this Final 8 and do you hope that UEFA will maintain it?

I liked it in that context, yes. And yet I was reluctant before. But considering how it goes, and I realize on the spot the efforts of everyone to make it go well, you can only enjoy watching this competition. We saw sick scenarios, reversals of situations, exploits… The emotional side is put forward, and perhaps we imagined missing some without the supporters and with this format. But in a normal context, without this fucking virus, I don't want to see it again. For me, the European Cup is a round trip. The disappointment of a first leg that you manage to return to the return… And then, the team which is supposed to be the strongest wins more on a return trip than on a dry match.

Given the context, the format, the opponents… Do you think that the winner of this season will be in some way downplayed?

Even though I hope Lyon will do the feat, if it's a Bayern-PSG final, do you really think people are going to play down one or the other's victory? It goes with what we are going through. The context is not easy, we had to adapt. Three months ago, when we were told about games behind closed doors, I thought “oh no, not that for several months”. This is what we are going through and on arrival, we find our account.

We got used to it, even if it was hard at first, especially with the false atmosphere. Now even us in the comments have the wrong vibe in the helmet and that helps. In the end, the players also find their account in this resumption of football, even if they were very reluctant. You have to try to do your job. And then I spoke with a lot of City players after the elimination, and when you see their disappointment, you tell yourself that they did not minimize their elimination. The future winner will be European champion, he will lift the Cup and he will be on the prize list.

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