Can Paris Saint-Germain Challenge Europe's Best for Champions League Crown?
The defining characteristic of Paris Saint-Germain’s excellent start to the 2015-16 season is that there hasn’t been a mini-crisis yet.
Tuesday’s loss to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu was the club’s first defeat in all competitions this season—a run that spanned 15 games and included a mighty 12 wins—but still no one is panicking.
No one should be, of course, as PSG have been one of the best sides in Europe over the last three months, but an ability to self destruct has become synonymous with the French club and, for once, the waters seem calm around the Parc des Princes.
It’s a far cry from the previous season or two, in which Les Parisiens were either forced to play catch up in Ligue 1, or struggled to slip into gear for the first few months.
This time last year, PSG sat four points off Marseille in top spot having drawn a remarkable six of their opening 12 games; the year before, it took until Christmas for PSG to truly separate themselves at the top of the table, despite boasting a dominant squad of players.
Sure, there have been the Cristiano Ronaldo rumours, purported by ESPN FC, but generally, off the field, it’s been smooth. No crises, no issues, just excellent, authoritative football which garners the results to match.
PSG are the club seemingly most able to breach Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich’s three-way stranglehold at the summit of Europe, and despite falling to Los Blancos 1-0 this week, no one who watched—or played in—that game could genuinely put their finger on how.
"We delivered our best match of the season," Angel Di Maria told reporters, per Sky Sports. "An outstanding display. We made a mistake and were punished. We played 10 times better than Real. We'll carry on that way."
PSG have been knocking on the door of Europe’s true elite for seasons, but success has eluded them. In 2014, they somehow managed to squander a 3-1 first-leg lead against Chelsea—a game in which Blanc did not cover himself in glory, unsuccessfully panic-subbing Marquinhos on in holding midfield at the death—while in the tournaments immediately preceding and following it, they were seen off by Barcelona.
While there has long been a feeling that PSG have been brutally unlucky not to progress past the quarter-final stage in the last three years, the truth is their squad wasn’t good enough to trouble the big boys. Drawing Barcelona so often is irritating, and, in fact, the away-goals loss in 2013 was ridiculously unlucky, but the chasm was clear.
But that chasm no longer exists. PSG have a stellar squad with appropriate depth and, most importantly, balance across the formation.
Kevin Trapp’s been pulled up for three howlers so far this season, but the global media’s tendency to focus on the negative has, perhaps, misrepresented the goalkeeper’s strong start. Two errors against Bordeaux and a positioning issue which led to Nacho’s freak goal belie his general form; there were questions over why he should replace Salvatore Sirigu at the start of the season, but his comfort with the ball at his feet and his superior aerial ability justify the choice.
Serge Aurier and Maxwell represent your classic, balanced full-back pair—the former favouring a rampaging, attacking style, the latter representing a steadier option (though he was remarkably attacking vs. Real Madrid). Being able to tilt your formation and allow one to push on and one to drop in is key to defending counter-attacks.
The midfield three, too, is perfectly balanced. You’re looking for three main components in a 4-3-3: holding, mediating and thrust. Thiago Motta sits and breaks up play; Marco Verratti controls the play and dictates its tempo, imitating attacks and assisting in possession domination; and Blaise Matuidi provides the vertical thrust with the ball at his feet a side must have if it needs to force the issue.
Matuidi’s contributions, pushing forward from the No. 8 role, are particularly important for both PSG and France. Utilising his ability to sling-shot forward and breach the channels, entering the box and creating overloads on the left side, can tip you over the edge and force a scruffy goal if things aren’t going well.
Up front, though, there appears to be a familiar issue: If PSG could splice Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani together—creating a hybrid striker who possesses the former’s clinical touch and playmaking, in addition to the latter’s mobility and movement—the creation would be one of the most valuable players in the world.
Unfortunately, Blanc is stuck with the two separate entities; ideally they’d spend big on a complete striker, but that’s what Cavani’s purchase was for, and they must wait for Ibrahimovic to leave until they crown another king No. 9 in the capital.
Di Maria, though, on the right flank, is once again a dream of a player. A clear man of the match against Real Madrid, the Argentina international has been impressive this season, despite arriving in Paris just a few months ago. He’s also had to stress that he is “not PSG’s saviour,” to beIN Sports (h/t Sacha Pisani of Goal.com). That sentiment is as true as it is important; a consistent goalscorer in the central-striker position is the only edge PSG lack now.
Thanks to a very strong start in Ligue 1, PSG may well be in a position, come February, to rest stars in domestic play and pour their heart and soul into the Champions League latter stages. With a less convoluted fixture list, that could tip them over the edge.
Blanc’s 4-3-3 in Paris is the anatomy of a superb team with a minor issue up front. Ibrahimovic and Cavani are by no means poor strikers, but the former is perhaps not mobile enough to thrive against the very best, and the latter has missed too many big chances to be counted upon—despite his stellar goalscoring returns in domestic games.
Once again, Blanc finds himself attempting a siege on the Champions League, arguably, one key piece short of a set. But, in Di Maria, they have a game-changer, in their system they have a superbly balanced framework, and given they’re 10 points clear atop Ligue 1 already, they may just be able to attack the latter stages with domestic duties wrapped up.
If any side is to topple the monopoly Bayern, Barcelona and Real Madrid have on Europe, it's Les Parisiens. They’ve proved it so.
.jpg?w=600 "Post-June 1 Trade Candidates ☎️")
