Interview conducted with Grosvenor Sport.
Paris Saint-Germain once again lost in frustrating, or comical for many Spanish fans, fashion in the knockout stages of the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Their talent for finding different methods of elimination continued, and when Luis Enrique defended his side with statistics and expected goals, he was derided in both France and Spain.
According to World Cup-winner Emmanuel Petit, the problem was much closer to home. The French champions did not turn up the heat for enough of the two clashes, as he told Football España exclusively, even when the Parc des Princes bubbled like a cauldron in the background.
“I can understand the argument that Luis Enrique makes about the posts and the shots, but if you look at the tie, it’s four halves, and they only play two of them. They only played the second halves, they were very poor in Dortmund in the first half, Paris Saint-Germain were poor yesterday in the first half. It’s a pity, because of all the preparations, the festivities, the fans the club, everything around the game was ready.”
Marco Reus celebrates with the Dortmund fans after the win against PSG. pic.twitter.com/uLIsFcxKS7
— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) May 9, 2024
“I’ve commentated on a lot of PSG games this season in the Champions League over the last three seasons, and yesterday, the atmosphere was amazing. Everything was setup, all the communication from Luis Enrique and Kylian Mbappe, saying that we are going to win the game, we were expecting a party yesterday, but it didn’t happen.”
Mbappe’s failure to make the difference was another deflating aspect of their exit in Petit’s eyes, and he felt that PSG still lacked the cohesion of their German counterparts, who dug deep.
“So I can understand that they had so many chances to score in the second half, but you cannot argue that they were not lucky. Sometimes you need luck obviously, but sometimes you need more than that, there were so many things missing from PSG in order to get through to the final. Dortmund deserved to go through I think, they were the better team, in both games, yes Paris Saint-Germain created more chances, but in the end Dortmund took theirs and they defended very well. They played much more like a team than Paris Saint-Germain in both games.”
Arsène Wenger explains how BVB outworked PSG to reach the Champions League final.
We could listen to Le Professeur talk football all day long! 👨🏫#beINUCL #UCL #PSGBVB pic.twitter.com/DtNbcoIWLb
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) May 8, 2024
In spite of another season without European glory – the one thing the Qatari ownership desires above all – Petit explained why it was still a successful campaign for Luis Enrique, in his first outside of Spain since a disappointing spell at Roma.
“So that’s why it’s disappointing, it’s deflating but there are positive things with this PSG, with Luis Enrique, if I look to the future, I see them improving in the next few months and years. I’m not worried at all. It was not expected that they make the semi-final this year, it was a transition season, after the departure of Lionel Messi and Neymar Junior. No more bling bling anymore, a new vision, a new manager, the spine of team with young players, talented players with a great mentality and great behaviour.”
“So they have a great future ahead of them, and they have so much collectively, there are positive things. Yesterday was a big disappointment because everyone was expecting something different.”
Certainly the lack of star power compared to two seasons ago will be stark, notwithstanding the upcoming transfer window. This PSG side was led by Vitinha in midfield, and whereas at the end of the last campaign, Lionel Messi, Neymar Junior and Mbappe were the names in the headlines. It would be no surprise to see them spring for a big name in the summer either though.
