• Saved by his goalkeeper on the pen at the start of the game, Paris miraculously managed to overthrow the table before being joined at the end of the game against Leipzig.

  • Despite glaring difficulties in the game, the Parisians still managed to get by thanks to their individualities.

    But until when can this last?

Winning ugly but winning, and if that was, basically, the real style of play of this PSG?

Well, on Wednesday, against Leipzig, the Parisians broke the rules by conceding the equalizer on penal after a pachyderm foul from Kimpembe on Nkunku at the end of the match.

Nevertheless: as often lately, the Parisians give the impression of disgusting their opponents, often domineering but (almost) always beaten on arrival.

At a press conference, Jesse Marsch had a strange taste in the mouth after the draw snatched by his players: “We played well from the start by scoring early.

But, by missing this penalty, it changed the situation and PSG came back.

It's not easy, we were better than PSG but unfortunately we only collected one point.

"

The first half is a summary of what PSG has been offering for months.

Illegible.

They land with their hands in their pockets and it is often the opponent who pays the bill.

#RBLPSG

- Abdellah Boulma (@AbdellahBoulma) November 3, 2021

Words that seem to be mistaken for those of Jocelyn Gourvennec, no later than last Friday after the stunning victory of PSG against Lille.

“It's a match that we have to lead 2-0 and that's what it was played out because we know very well that with Paris, it's never over.

But it's really very difficult to tell yourself that you are leaving with zero points.

I have the impression of being in the same place as the coach of Leipzig, Angers or Lyon: we came to play, we did it well and it doesn't pay off… ”

And in the end, it's Paris that comes back

Expected at the turn after ensemble performances sometimes bordering on nothingness, Paris took a broth from the start, undergoing both pressing and incessant projections from the Leipzig players, until this fatal loss of the ball from Di Maria for the opening of Nkunku's score (for a change…). For half an hour, PSG was carried around in all areas as was already the case against Lille six days earlier.

He owed his survival to a stop by Donnarumma after a (bad) peno shot by André Silva. “We had a lot of trouble getting into the game. We were nervous. The Leipzig team had a lot of energy, they caused problems for us, ”Pochettino admitted after the match. We made things too easy for them, conceded Georginio Wijnaldum at RMC's microphone. We really have to improve in controlling the game. We know the catchphrase.

But as always this season, PSG hardly needs to sublimate to make up for its delay.

It has even become his trademark.

In the midst of the general apathy, a flash of lucidity from a Neymar found: The Brazilian goes down to snatch the ball from the German feet, goes up the field, leans on Di Maria and serves Mbappé perfectly who has only to be centered for Wijnaldum full axis.

Neymar is the best deep passer in the world.

- Victor Lefaucheux (@Premieretouche) November 3, 2021

Twenty minutes later, it was Marquinhos with a header who came to serve the Dutchman for the 2-1 goal.

On the finish line, and without really knowing how, Paris turned the situation around again in a damn badly embarked match.

Character to hide deficiencies

Mauricio Pochettino calls it “character, resilience”. That and the results are a bit what remains for the Argentinian to hide the interstate void in the game of his team. In a press conference, the Parisian coach once again praised “the sense of sacrifice of his team”, from which “we can build things”. Wednesday night, however, the overall impression left by his team was far from reassuring the most skeptical.

Paradoxically, PSG could still have ended the match with one or two more goals if Mbappé had not sketched his duel with Gulacsi three times.

Because we can blame him for anything we want, with players like Neymar or Mbappé, this Paris remains a lethal weapon in the phases of transitions and counter-attack.

As in Barcelona or Bayern last year, Mauricio Pochettino's men understood that failing to play as a team, their salvation would come through there.

But as far as Paris will he be able to play the tightrope walker?

So far, so good…

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