[ad_1]
End of Tuchel’s games: It was often read before coach Thomas Tuchel’s match and his situation at Paris Saint-Germain. The Champions League duel against RB Leipzig really felt like a final, of a terrible kind, as you’ve often seen in football history: a lot of nervousness, a lot of mistakes – and a team that defended with all their might and up front hoped for a brilliant moment of their individual masters. A team that really wanted to win this match. No matter how. That team was PSG.
Outcome of the game: Paris are far from their form since the Champions League tournament in August. Far away. That evening was enough for RB Leipzig. The duel ended 1-0, decided by an extremely questionable penalty. The possible direct elimination for PSG in the group stage and the first during the government of the Qatari financiers has been averted for the moment. Tuchel can take a short breath. Read the match report here. You can find the group overview here.
Another, a worse PSG: Almost 14 weeks have passed since the Champions League final with PSG, and nothing remains of the strong mix: the defense behind former captain Thiago Silva, in front in particular Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. The team has key players in trouble in all parts of the team. But the problems in Paris are particularly evident in the rear, which had to be changed in all positions compared to the Bayern game three months ago (starts, injuries, suspensions). The result: a team and a coach in emergency mode.
One of the new who can do little for a crisis: Mitchel Bakker, 20, left defender, entered Ajax Amsterdam second team on a free transfer a year ago. Free transfer, which isn’t bad at first, is especially noticeable only in Paris, where transfer fees have already been paid in triple-digit amounts. And Bakker stood out that evening, with small errors, but above all because a second Parisian always defended himself by his side for safety.
All on the contrary, all together: Not infrequently, PSG even retired to their own half with all ten players on the pitch. And if you came under a little more pressure there, the balls would just jump forward. In the final stages, the long shots were cheered loudly from the bench. This all seemed messed up, but the way the whole team celebrated the liberation attempts also speaks to a certain team spirit. It was going well again. The fact that the Parisians got away with it in the end is devastating for RB too.
The moment that decided the »final«: In the final, a small thing can decide, the contact – which was not clearly seen even after several slowdowns – before the penalty kick in the eleventh minute was something like that. As lightly as possible, Marcel Sabitzer would have touched the Argentine Ángel Di María in the leg and he immediately fell. A (very, very) generous whistle, a mediocre penalty from Neymar, an important goal. PSG played the lucky goal perfectly with their blocking tactics. And the success was the culmination of a miserable performance.
Tuchel’s problems: Thinking from game to game, this is a cheap football phrase. It applies to Tuchel’s situation. The coach has been counted for months and the icy relationship with the powerful sporting director Leonardo has been told over and over again. In the summer both sides could not agree on a line for the entrances (they could have done better), the German coach’s contract will also expire next summer. The fact that Tuchel was the first PSG manager to reach the premier class final – that success, as we know today, only calmed the tense situation for a short time.
The next finals: Football is a result sport which is why this lackluster win over RB Tuchel provides some calm. But there will be other finals awaiting the manager: for example, the team will have to play at Manchester United next Wednesday. Then it’s all again.
Source link
