• PSG drew in Bruges (1-1) for their first Champions League match on Wednesday night.

  • Not the expected result, of course, for one of the big favorites of the competition, who also inaugurated his magic trio Messi-Neymar-Mbappé.

  • Beaten in the engagement and feverish in defense, the Parisians are still in full swing.

From our special correspondent in Bruges,

The tongue-in-cheek comments and shortcuts shouldn't be missing this Thursday morning. PSG, with its stars with an annual salary equivalent to Burundi's GDP, held in check by the small Belgian club with a budget three million times lower in its somewhat dilapidated stadium that smells of real football, it looks like a real godsend to be stuff the Parisian club. All will not be undeserved, because Mauricio Pochettino's team did not generally live up to this great Champions League launch party, too often giving the impression of playing in slippers when his opponent advanced the bites his teeth. But it will still be necessary to take care to sort it out a little.

It is a fact, the Parisians were tossed about, or even completely overwhelmed on certain sequences where Marquinhos and Kimpembe suffered as best they could in the face of the Bruges horde who arrived in front of them without seeing a resistance worthy of the name. Belgian players moreover quite surprising, in particular the small Lang, on his left side, which made mad all the Parisian rearguard, well supported by Vanaken and De Ketelaere. “We fell against a great team, you have to know how to recognize it, even if we did not play our best football, observes Kimpembe. They have merit. It was a complicated game. "

"I am very proud of my players, they played a very great game, mentally, physically, tactically," blows coach Philippe Clément.

The Flemish then looks for the right word in French to express the substance of the thought.

He finally gets there, with a big smile.

"The balls, there you go," he exclaims.

My players played with that too.

We didn't just defend, and that was very important.

I think this is a historic match for Bruges.

"

The motivation of the opponent "should not be a problem"

We thought we understood, indeed, seeing the scenes of joy in the stands and on the lawn at the final whistle, a few minutes earlier. It is perhaps there, precisely, the real lesson of this match. The Belgian champion, not such a small club by the way with his 100 million euros budget (almost as much as Losc, for example) for his fourth consecutive participation in the C1, played this meeting as a true finale, when nothing matters afterwards. PSG more like a warm-up lap, which can be half-understood, but not defended.

Because Belgian furia is a foretaste of what awaits the Parisian hardware store all over Europe.

Absolutely everyone is going to want their scalp.

“It is clear that Brugge had all the motivation necessary to beat us, notes Pochettino, who had however warned.

This aspect should not be a problem.

It's pretty normal, we have to ignore it.

There's no point in doing too much, however.

Paris did not lose, could have lost without Navas but could also have won if Messi had had a little more success on his shot curled in the first period, finally pushed back by the bar.

City, the crash test

This draw is a lesser evil, for a team still far from ready and which was deprived of Verratti and Gueye in the middle, not useless when it comes to going to the coal and to come out cleanly under the pressure. “I'm still happy with the team's efforts. We did not have a good evening but we must stay quiet, continue to work, this is the most important, asks the Argentine coach. We need the necessary time, we will try to do better and play better. "

The real crash test, in fact, will be the reception of Manchester City in two weeks.

Faced with the great rival for first place in the group and also claiming the final victory, which has just past six in Leipzig, the Parisians will have to show that they have advanced.

It would be even better to be able to work with Mbappé, who came out on Wednesday evening after twisting his ankle and about whom we will have more news within 48 hours, but his absence would not change anything at the bottom of the story.

With this team, patience will quickly be exhausted.

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