Paredes and Kimpembé wary during the defeat against OL on December 13, 2020 at the Parc des Princes.

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FRANCK FIFE / AFP

At the Parc des Princes,

He did not emit the slightest spark of doubt, neither in his words, nor in the intonation of his voice.

Asked more or less skillfully about the tightening at the head of the championship and the unprecedented Parisian difficulties in domestic games, Thomas Tuchel draped himself in his dignity: "the championship?

It depends on us, only on us ”.

Mentally and physically drained by the accumulation of matches, PSG has yet fallen to 3rd place in the championship, with an OM two games less behind, and there is still Lille to struggle next weekend.

The competition wriggles with a suspenseful shallot race until May, and so does the follower, for several reasons.

The unflattering figures for Paris

Busy as we were remembering the last Lyon victory in these places where transversals were still trembling for OL, but little more, we had almost forgotten to count the Parisian failures in L1.

Already four setbacks, or the worst record of the champion of France at this stage of the season since 2009-2010, when the front pair had to resemble Hoarau and Giuly, if Alzheimer's does not already make us mix everything.

By putting aside the Lensois setback, more consumed on the beaches of Ibiza than on the lawn of Bollaert, Paris lost against three direct opponents, in an increasingly worrying way over time.

  • Against OM at the Park?

    A one-shot boxers match for OM and Mandanda's Angora cat displays.

  • Against Monaco to Louis II?

    The lights went out at half-time, when it should have been 3-0 after half an hour if the VAR was doing its job properly, which looks like wishful thinking.

  • Against OL on Sunday night?

    45 minutes to be sauced in the middle as rarely at home, and the following 45 to try to fit in the month once on Lopes, in vain.

The collective game is what it is at PSG when you have to deal with egos as big as watermelons in attack, but the level of individuality was enough until then to scatter the visiting peasant without sweating from the neck.

Another era: Paris has been silent twice at home since the resumption, as many as in the last three seasons combined.

In other words, we contemplate for the moment the worst PSG of the Qatari era by far.

Unexpected concentration jumps for Tuchel

Despite a combative and conquering tone in a press conference, the German coach surprised his world by explaining that he had not seen the voltage drop in the top circuits at all.

“I was surprised to see the team so mentally tired, unable to play with the slightest intensity.

I was expecting a very high level in this match, and I saw a very low level.

It's a big step backwards, if I had been aware of this sudden fatigue in training the day before the match I would have made several changes to arrive on the pitch with a different mentality ”.

Quite a few things in there.

First, that PSG emerges burnt in every sense of the word from a six-month marathon without disconnecting the brain, and that the last full week of training without a match on Wednesday or without the internationals on a spree must go back to the end of July , comfortable.

Hence the quite logical roller coaster effect.

Except for Tuchel who thought his team finally launched after saving the homeland in the Champions League.

Rather, it looks like his guys have given their all to make it through to the eighth and the nearest Total station is yet to appear on the horizon, with three games left to slip into before opening. gifts.

Whether mental, physical, or more surely a bit of both, this wear is a cumbersome travel companion for the PSG staff who have trouble taming it over the long term:

“I cannot accept the mental fatigue, we have shown that we were strong over the last three games.

The keys were the effort, the discipline in the way of defending, the very high recoveries.

In the end, talking about fatigue or decompression, these are excuses, it does not exist after a match like that.

It's very hard for me to accept this defeat ”.

However, we will have to get used to these swings in involvement, since PSG will spend its time running after a season started too late so as not to damage bodies and minds.

Ten days of rest at Christmas, and already a week with two L1 matches on the program when it resumes.

This is not how Paris will get the cherry on top

Competition at the cleat

PSG have already gone through an average L1 start to the season, but they have rarely been bothered on the way by the other supposed champions of the championship, apart from the Monegasque UFO in 2017. This time, it's as if everyone had secretly plotted.

"And guys, have you seen, they are super-takeable this year, you have to believe it".

Of course, there is still some sorting to do and precautions to be taken.

  • Rennes is a little off the hook, but the talent is still there, including on the sidelines.

  • Monaco is not always paid for its starts against the big one, but its defeats in Marseille, Lyon or Lille look like a scar that will be obvious on arrival.

  • OM do not always play much, but the gauge of confidence goes up very slowly, and AVB has already proven that he knows how to be competitive, if not attractive.

  • Lille has been the other best team in France for two and a half years now.

    Galtier masters his project from A to Z, and he must have watched the Lyon victory with relish a week away from receiving PSG.

And then there is OL

Here we are going to develop a bit, given that we saw Rudi Garcia's players snort before our amazed eyes.

To summarize on the merits: OL seemed to live on the quality of their individual talents since the Genesio era, it was even their trademark to find fulfillment in a form of grand bazaar full of enthusiasm or despair. , it depends.

This year, the group has another marrow.

A dominating environment, well-identified playing circuits, an entire collective concerned with dark spots, as long as the spirit of revenge cements everything, according to Cornet:

🎙 The President @JM_Aulas insisted on the quality demonstrated this evening by our Lyonnais, who also showed great solidarity!

👊🔴🔵 # PSGOL pic.twitter.com/vhHcUB59QW

- Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) December 13, 2020

"We have this frustration of not having been qualified in C1 given this stop early enough in the championship, and we are keen to be able to look for a qualifier, and something very beautiful too".

Can this something very beautiful look like a dance of joy at the Place des Terreaux at the end of May?

Garcia calms the ardor a little: "It would be lacking in humility at a third of the championship to talk about anything other than the podium, even if we are much more regular".

OL have a good “contender” head, however, with a team built to last, especially one game a week and all the time in the world to work on their opponents for the weekend.

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