The sunny weather and the programming at tea time had perhaps misled them, had probably led the PSG players to believe that they would spend a cushy, quiet Sunday, going through the 28th day of Ligue 1 in ” plateau-teloche”. And that like from the sofa, effortlessly and in slippers, they could maintain their invincibility at the Parc des Princes against Rennes who a priori did not deserve to be received with great fanfare.
Missed. Since this Sunday, March 19, Paris can no longer boast of being the only Ligue 1 team to have still not lost at home. Reassuring news, if not encouraging, as the tasteless and poor performance of Christophe Galtier’s players deserved nothing better than a zero score during this opposition against Bretons who gave them a lesson in professionalism by respecting , them, the fundamentals necessary for the construction of the least success.
Ten days after the failure against Bayern and the second consecutive elimination in the knockout stages of the Champions League, the stands had nevertheless reminded them of the basics, shown the example of what a flawless investment is, that which a club like Paris must have pegged to the heart and the body whatever the CV of the adversary of the day and the resistance that the infirmary allows you to oppose to him.
The gigantic blue-white-red tifo deployed before kick-off, the incessant chants and the permanent support that fell from the stands found no echo on the lawn.
As in Bavaria ten days ago, this team once again showed that it was not one when a grain of sand got lost in its cogs. That if the absences of Neymar, Soler, but also Kimpembe, Ramos and Marquinhos who had forced Galtier to launch a New-Look defense (Bernat -Danilo – Bitshiabu), had certainly not facilitated the Parisian task, they were not enough to explain the differences between each other on the lawn.
Lyon, Nice and Lens to come
To say why, the inspiration and the desire of many had remained in the locker room, to the point that Vitinha and Ruiz had not yet won any duel at rest. To explain why Messi had long signaled himself only by delivering a few rare passes – including two certainly magical – to Kylian Mbappé and to note, again, that when the latter stumbles on a Mandanda in a state of grace, Paris really becomes a team more than ordinary.
“The players gave their all athletically,” insisted Galtier at a press conference. If you have the feeling that the players didn’t give their all, I did. “And the Parisian coach to continue:” We can not incriminate my players on the fact that they were not invested, it is not true. But when we are down 2-0 and there are few solutions, we can understand that there is a little resignation, he continued after having invited to put himself in the shoes of players who are preparing a match with eight absent and who enter the locker room seeing players from the academy that they have only seen once or twice in training. »
The only certainty is that Paris lost the first of their last 36 home games yesterday, without shining. It is also the seventh, in all competitions, since the return of the World Cup. A package of mysteries of Paris that Christophe Galtier will have to elucidate on the return of the international week in order, as he said in the preamble to this 28th day, to convince his troops that nothing is yet decided in the quest for an eleventh title of champion of France.
Because despite its nine-point lead at the top of the standings, it will take a Paris of a completely different caliber than the one that only reacted after the goals of Toko-Ekambi (45th) and Kalimuendo (48th) to chain the upcoming meetings against Lyon, Nice and Lens.
