PSG's 3-0 Win over Shakhtar Donetsk Shows Champions League Progression

On Wednesday night, Paris Saint-Germain continued their 100 per cent record in the UEFA Champions League with an impressive 3-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk at the Arena Lviv in Ukraine.

Scoring twice in 23 minutes gave Laurent Blanc’s side the perfect start, helped them put the home side on the back foot and showed signs this PSG team is definitely still progressing as a unit under the former France boss.

Slow starts to the games against Stade de Reims, Guingamp and especially in the 4-1 win over FC Nantes last time out—PSG were 1-0 down at half-time—put some doubts into the mentality of the players and the effectiveness of Blanc’s decision to continually rotate his squad during the early weeks.

Blanc told UEFA.com after the game:

"

I think this was our best performance of the season. We defeated a really strong team in Shakhtar.

We played well both in defence and in attack. As I said yesterday, the team who defender better would win the game and so it proved.

Shakhtar created a lot of problems for us and I'm very satisfied with the result.

"

Defending, and luck, were definitely key to Wednesday’s win, with Darijo Srna having an unfortunate game in the Shakhtar back line. The Croatian completely lost Serge Aurier at the back post after just seven minutes, the excellent Ivorian heading past Andriy Pyatov.

David Luiz was very fortunate to make it 2-0 16 minutes later—the ball seemed to flick off Aurier’s head and came off the Brazilian’s knee, looping into the top corner. PSG with the perfect start, no glimpses of the struggles we saw in Nantes, comfortably in the driving seat for a crucial Champions League away win.

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"We had fewer shots [than Shakhtar] but more real opportunities,” continued Blanc. “I'm happy with the intensity of our play. I was a bit worried in the second half as Shakhtar changed the game but then we scored the third and everything became clear."

Shakhtar outshot PSG 10-6 in the first half, via WhoScored.com, including a sequence when the Ukrainians had five shots in around 20 seconds, but excellent defending and a desire to put their bodies on the line stopped the away side from conceding.

In life, you make your own luck, and there was more fortune to PSG’s third, with Srna turning Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s pass into his own net, but with the home side pushing to try and get a foothold back in the game, the space was there to exploit.

Looking at PSG’s form in the Champions League, this is a side still improving from last season’s displays. Blanc was quick to praise Aurier, who he looks to have fully settled in the French capital:

"

Serge Aurier needed some time to adapt to our game but now he's showing his best qualities.

I want to praise all of our defence and the whole team, who showed very good defensive organisation and took their chances up front.

We can now look forward to the two matches against Real Madrid, a really big club. But today I just want to celebrate this victory against another very good team.

"

Next up in the Champions League, PSG have back-to-back games against the Spanish giants. This will be a true barometer of how far this squad has come in this competition. If you want to win the trophy, or at least reach the semi-finals, you need to beat—or at least compete with—the best.

If the club wants to go as far as their aspirations demand, they will want to win the group, which would hopefully give them a favourable draw in the last 16—although nothing in football is guaranteed.

Three points over the two games will be the minimum expected, however, and to go to the Spanish capital and come back with a result will announce to the rest of Europe that PSG are 100 per cent up for the fight this season.