PSG running out of time, excuses

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/04/2021 (1930 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There aren’t supposed to be title races in France.

Not with Paris Saint-Germain established as a super-team and expected to claim Ligue 1 by April each year.

But it’s May now and PSG are still not champions. They’re not even top of the table. They’ve led the standings on only three matchdays since December, and now, with just four games to play, they’re running out of time.

And out of excuses.

Yes, the quick turnaround from the disappointment of last season’s Champions League Final defeat caught them flat-footed in early losses to Lens and Marseille, and yes, a mid-season coaching change did nothing to foster stability at a club where extracurricular drama often overshadows what happens on the pitch.

But this is a team that deploys the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Angel Di Maria, Marco Verratti and Marquinhos week in, week out, that can leave Mauro Icardo, Julian Draxler, Pablo Sarabia, Layvin Kurzawa and Moise Kean on the bench for the first leg of a Champions League semifinal.

A semifinal, it so happens, they lost 2-1 to Manchester City on Wednesday, beaten by another super-team that simply executed better than themselves. And now, with the second leg looming early next week, they’re faced with the conundrum of resting key players for today’s crucial Ligue 1 encounter with fifth-place Lens.

Mbappe has already been ruled out. He felt a niggle in his calf on Wednesday and will be protected for Tuesday’s showdown at Etihad Stadium. Neymar and Di Maria may also start on the bench, what with the importance of away goals in Manchester.

Still, it should have never come to this. And you just get the feeling the mounting pressure on numerous fronts — they also have a Coupe de France semi-final at Montpellier on May 12 — is simply too much for a PSG side long on ability but short on bottle.

Of course, there wouldn’t even be a title race without additional contenders, and they’re the other part of this narrative. Not the primary part — not yet, though that may come. Such is the shadow cast by PSG.

Lille Olympique, in first place 12 of the last 13 weeks, are ever so close to getting out from that shadow.

One of European football’s feel-good stories of the season, their combination of tenacious defence, timely goalscoring and a team spirit that continues to inflate with each positive result has them one point above PSG ahead of today’s match at home to ninth-place Nice.

Praising his players, Les Dogues, in his pre-match press conference, manager Christophe Galtier likened his side to “a dog with a bone in its mouth,” a team with “destiny in hand.”

“I have a group that is very motivated, sometimes annoying, but sometimes even responds beyond my expectations,” he said.

Everyone’s expectations.

The young-old combination of Sven Botman (21) and Jose Fonte (37) has coalesced into the best defensive partnership in the country, and 22-year-old Boubakary Soumare has teamed up nicely with 30-year-old veteran Benjamin Andre in the centre of the park.

The theme has continued up top, where 21-year-old Canadian international Jonathan David’s 11 goals has been bested only by 35-year-old Burak Yilmaz’s 12. Galtier, who prefers to play two forwards in a 4-4-2, has hinted both will start against Nice.

On paper, there doesn’t seem to be a reason why this Lille outfit makes sense, but that’s its allure. And Galtier, as a sort of alchemist, continues to turn base metals into gold.

That said, should they or PSG trip up in Saturday’s matches, Monaco will be ready to pounce on Sunday, when they host Lyon at Stade Louis II.

Ligue 1’s form team of 2021, in which they’ve lost just once, the Principality side keep the ball exceptionally well, and their 71 goals are second only to PSG’s 77. They proved their mettle in a 0-0 draw with Lille on March 14, and in their five matches since have outscored their opponents a combined 14-0.

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Monaco will, however, be without striker Stevan Jovetic — injured at Angers — and both Gelson Martins and Aleksandr Golovin will miss out after testing positive for COVID-19. Cesc Fabregas will get another start as a result, working with the outstanding Aurelien Tchouameni to support attackers Wissam Ben Yedder and Kevin Volland.

Lyon, currently fourth, have recently dropped crucial points to PSG, Lens and Lille and will plummet further out of the Champions League picture if they don’t secure a vital win.

It all makes for a thrilling Ligue 1 run-in that was never supposed to be. PSG are largely to thank for that, although they still may get the last word.

jerradpeters@gmail.com