PSG have shown their limits and must still grow to take the leap

From our special correspondent in Lisbon,

“Right now, it feels like crap, honestly. “You don't have to have played at the highest level to know the heartbreak of a lost final, if you have a minimum taste for competition. We can therefore easily understand the harshness of the words pronounced by Ander Herrera, disgusted as not allowed after the defeat of PSG against Bayern Munich, Sunday evening in the final of the Champions League.

Obviously, this team is far from shitty and we allow ourselves to pay tribute to the Basque who, after a complicated first season at Paname, has emerged as one of the pleasant surprises of this Final 8 in Lisbon. The problem is that at a certain level, being good is not enough. Even being very good, it doesn't always work out. In the final and what is more against the stainless Bavarian machine, you have to be excellent in all respects. And Sunday, Paris failed in many areas.

Denied identity

Hansi Flick announced at a press conference the day before, the key to the final lay in controlling the match and the teams' ability to impose their game on the other. It was also Thomas Tuchel's speech before the semi-final against Leipzig. And in both cases, it is indeed the formation of the strongest collective aura that has emerged. The Parisian coach said on Saturday that he would adjust to the Bavarian game without making “big changes” in the tactical approach of his training. The first minutes portray a completely different reality: positioned lower than usual, the team leaves the ball to Bayern, which they want to surprise with a series of counter-attacks. Marquinhos, on the board: “we played with our weapons, they like possession, playing high, so we tried to get the ball back and play with our attackers very quickly to hurt them. “After all, Lyon did well in the middle of the week. It was therefore enough to do like them and aim a little better in front to win. If only it were that simple ...

A collective logic to be perfected

We can debate for a long time on the defensive positioning of the Parisian bloc but let us still recognize a certain cohesion. The lines behind and in the middle slid well and the offensives played their role of supporting the full-backs perfectly, we think in particular of Mbappé, repositioned to the right to prevent poor Thilo Kehrer from drowning in the second half. On the other hand, we must regret the absence of collective logic in the offensive sector, whose overall strategy consists in looking for Neymar, Mbappé and sometimes Di Maria while waiting for a madness to come out of their feet.

PSG misses its final, Bayern on the roof of Europe via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/NjiKAONE2t

And Tuchel may well want to smoke us out by arguing that "Ney still made a match with a big mental", the Brazilian and Mbappé, who "was injured and missed a lot of training" were prevented by Bayern from establishing this so precious connection, a sine qua non for the good offensive health of PSG. Because, unlike the teams aware of having to parasitize Mbappé and Neymar but unable to do so, the Bavarians had the individual and collective weapons to carry out the strategy. To win a final of this level, you need at least a plan B. Or a game plan, like. Or the midfielders make passes to move the opposing block, just to put the attackers in the best conditions instead of waiting for them to dribble 72 defenders and finish the job behind. That wouldn't be a bad idea.

And realism, of course

All this is all the more frustrating that, even without shining, Paris has managed to jostle intermittently the six-time winner of the Champions League. But when you want to win by being solid, not brilliant in the game but just solid, you have to know how to keep pawns in front. Neymar and Mbappé leave this Final 8 without the slightest goal scored, and we will wonder for a long time about the why of the committing of the laughable attempt of the French at the end of the first period. “We had the opportunities, regrets Tuchel. If we score first, we win the same match 1-0. "

Perhaps. But we should not forget along the way the post of Lewandowski or the mercy of the referee on the fall of Coman in the box. Bayern were above, you have to admit it. The Germans were favorites anyway because they had something that Paris could only acquire through there, experience. Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, in conclusion: “we still need small details. It was our first final, for Bayern it was the 11th. To the supporters, I promise you, we will work together again to return to the final. It's not easy to get there, but we will do everything to win this trophy. "

William pereira