Paris Saint-Germain lost at home on Saturday April 3 in the shock at the top of Ligue 1, against Lille (1-0). Dominated and diminished, the reigning French champion lets the Mastiffs take over ...

Football: beaten by Lille, PSG starts badly its crucial ten

Lille's Benjamin André facing Parisian Neymar, April 3, 2021 at Parc des Princes.

REUTERS - BENOIT TESSIER

Text by: Nicolas Bamba Follow

4 min

Paris Saint-Germain lost at home on Saturday April 3 in the shock at the top of Ligue 1, against Lille (1-0).

Dominated and diminished, the reigning French champion lets the Mastiffs take the lead.

And before challenging Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, concern sets in.

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The first half of April is a very highlight of the 2020-2021 season for PSG.

This Saturday April 3, the Parisians received the Losc, club with which they shared the first place in Ligue 1 (63 points each) before this 31st day.

Then, the capital club will challenge Bayern Munich twice in the quarter-finals of the Champions League (April 7 in Germany, April 13 at the Parc des Princes), without forgetting this meeting in Strasbourg in the league in the meantime, April 10.

Four matches in ten days therefore for Mauricio Pochettino and his men.

And the first of these four posters turned sour at the Parc des Princes.

For the first time since 1996, Lille won in the lair of the Parisians, thanks to a single goal scored by the young Canadian striker Jonathan David (20th).

Paris without genius, Neymar expelled, several players unavailable for Bayern ...

PSG delivered a mediocre performance during this shock at the top of Ligue 1. Private Marco Verratti, who returned positive for Covid-19 after the international break, Layvin Kurzawa, Danilo and Mauro Icardi, injured, as well as Juan Bernat, in the recovery phase, the capital club was below the expected level.

The offensive quator Di Maria-Neymar-Mbappé-Kean failed to combine effectively.

Lille's efficiency (three shots on target, one goal) was enough to inflict the defending French champions an eighth defeat in Ligue 1 this season.

Eight setbacks, while there are still seven days to play, it's unheard of in the QSI era of PSG.

And the poisonous icing on the cake arrived in the last minutes, with the expulsion of Neymar for two yellow cards received for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The title race may have changed this Saturday.

Of course, there are still 21 points to distribute, and Mass has not yet been said.

But Lille took three steps ahead and dominated its most direct rival (66 points against 63), while Monaco and Lyon are in ambush just behind.

And all this while Parisian thoughts and forces will be mobilized for this very important European deadline.

Winner in two faces of Barça in the previous round - a sublime first leg, a very sluggish return leg - PSG presents itself without certainty when it comes to challenging Bayern Munich, the same giant who beat it in the final of the Champions League last August.

His offensive stars Angel Di Maria, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar mess up their football, his defenders are in the hard (Thilo Kehrer, Abdou Diallo), and his midfielder will be greatly diminished: Marco Verratti will be absent in Munich, Leandro Paredes will be suspended, Danilo is still uncertain ... By Wednesday, Mauricio Pochettino will have the mission to reinvigorate a battered group.

Football: beaten by Lille, PSG starts badly its crucial ten

Football: beaten by Lille, PSG starts badly its crucial ten

Paris without genius, Neymar expelled, several players unavailable for Bayern ...

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