Ranking PSG's Top 5 Players for October
October has been another good month for Paris Saint-Germain. The French champions won all four of their Ligue 1 games and now sit atop the table comfortably.
Laurent Blanc’s men drew their other match 0-0 at home against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League. The goalless result does not harm their chances of finishing top of Group A—even if the manner of the draw was disappointing.
Only two goals were conceded over the month of October, one against Olympique de Marseille in a 2-1 home win and another in a 4-1 triumph over AS Saint-Etienne in Paris.
The two clean sheets kept against SC Bastia and Stade Rennais mean that PSG now have a total of seven clean sheets in Ligue 1—10 if you include the Champions League.
Here is a look at Les Parisiens’ key men from October.
5. Thiago Motta
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Although he started on the substitutes bench for two of the five games played by PSG in October, Thiago Motta was still one of Laurent Blanc’s star performers of the month.
In those two cameo appearances, both away from home, the Italy international was introduced when Les Parisiens were not in front. By the time the Azzurri veteran left the pitch, he had helped his team to victory both times.
Against Bastia, Motta was introduced 61 minutes into the match. Eleven minutes later, PSG took the lead through Zlatan Ibrahimovic and went on to win the game 2-0.
In Rennes, the former Barcelona and Internazionale man came on after 66 minutes, and nine minutes later, Blanc’s men had scored the only goal of the game.
It is not the first time that Motta has had this sort of positive impact either. The same thing happened back in September, when the 33-year-old was brought out away at FC Nantes with the game tied at 1-1. The final score was 4-1, PSG.
Motta does not come on and start pinging passes to immediately open up opposition defences in these games. Instead, he brings an authority and calmness to the PSG midfield that it lacks without him on the pitch.
The PSG No. 8’s metronomic style of play aids a better use of the ball by the team. His role as a regulator is still of huge importance to Blanc, and understandably so.
4. Marco Verratti
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Once again, Marco Verratti underlined his importance for PSG with a number of impressive displays in October.
The Italy international was excellent against Saint-Etienne and Rennes in Ligue 1, despite his clumsy own goal against Les Verts. He was also the most impressive member of the midfield unit in the goalless draw against Real in the Champions League.
Verratti delivered a pair of assists in the 4-1 win over Saint-Etienne, laying on Layvin Kurzawa and Lucas Moura’s goals. However, he also played an important role against Rennes, picking out a sumptuous cross-field pass to Lucas Moura in the build-up to Angel Di Maria’s superb volleyed goal.
The 22-year-old missed the 2-0 win away a Bastia through injury, and the team felt his absence in Corsica. Otherwise, he picked up two yellow cards in four matches he played across all competitions.
Verratti can do better than his October offering, but he was still one of PSG’s best performers of the month.
3. Kevin Trapp
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October was a breakthrough month for PSG goalkeeper Kevin Trapp. The German had been under intense scrutiny since the start of the season, when he replaced regular starting shot-stopper Salvatore Sirigu.
However, Blanc’s decision to dispense with the Italian now appears to be a little more justified after a string of good performances.
Despite being unable to keep out Michy Batshuayi’s header in the 2-1 win over Marseille, Trapp was excellent against the capital club’s bitter rivals.
The former Eintracht Frankfurt man made a series of good saves and then topped it off by stopping Abdelaziz Barrada’s penalty.
Trapp was also impressive in the goalless draw against Real Madrid. The 25-year-old made some excellent saves and was a reassuring presence in the hosts’ goal as PSG kept the Spanish giants at bay.
The former Germany under-21 player has now kept nine clean sheets across all competitions so far this season.
2. Thiago Silva
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PSG kept three clean sheets in five matches across all competitions during October, and a big contributing factor toward that was captain Thiago Silva.
The Brazil international may find himself out of favour under national team coach Dunga, but he keeps making a mockery of the Selecao tactician’s selections with authoritative displays at the heart of the PSG defence.
Silva was immense in the 0-0 draw with Real Madrid, and he played a key role in keeping Bastia and Rennes at bay.
Partnered by David Luiz, Marquinhos and Serge Aurier at different times over the month, the 31-year-old remained consistent in every game he played.
Dunga’s continued snubbing of the PSG man is to the French champions’ benefit. As long as he is not getting called up internationally, Silva is getting regular rest and is running less of a risk of getting injured.
1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
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Although he received some criticism over the course of the month, notably following the goalless draw with Real Madrid, the fact remains that Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored five of his seven Ligue 1 goals so far this season in October.
Five of PSG’s nine for the month were scored by the Sweden international, and in that time, he became the capital club’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Pedro Miguel Pauleta’s tally of 109 goals was topped when Ibrahimovic scored two quick-fire penalties to dispose of bitter rivals Marseille.
It was not the most spectacular way to write himself into the French giants’ history books, but there is no doubt that he deserved to usurp the Portuguese.
Thanks to strikes against Bastia and Saint-Etienne, Zlatan now has 113 goals to his name, and there will surely be more to come in the following months.
On top of that, the 34-year-old added an assist against Saint-Etienne to take his monthly total up to five goals and one assist.
