Swapping Performances for Results: This Is the New-Look PSG

Paris Saint-Germain ran out 3-0 winners on Wednesday night, beating Swiss side FC Basel to keep pace with Arsenal at the top of UEFA Champions League Group A.

The result flatters the Parisians, with the match and performance disappointing for large spells and heavy criticism surrounding the way in which Unai Emery’s side began the game.

Just like against Ludogorets when they won in Bulgaria, PSG were dreadful in the first half, but with the Swiss side missing chances and PSG riding their luck, they somehow went into the break 1-0 up.

Basel set up playing 4-5-1, which saw the midfield battle loaded in their favour.

They won the early exchanges and harried and chased the home side. PSG struggled to get going and looked void of a game plan. Unai Emery’s team were not able to get a foothold in the early exchanges and looked like they had stalled their car on the Boulevard Peripherique.

Rather than receive a kickstart from their boss, they only seemed to get back under way when another car smashed into the back of them.

Unai Emery started with 4-3-3—his standard formation lately—playing Blaise Matuidi, Marco Verratti and Adrien Rabiot in the midfield. Playing the latter ahead of Grzegorz Krychowiak in Thiago Motta’s absence should have given the Parisians more of an attacking edge, but he was pushed back too often in the first 20-25 minutes, playing far too deep to pick up the ball.

"

Rabiot  #PSGFCB pic.twitter.com/ZGmov2wzrh

— Guillaume L. (@GuillaumL_) October 19, 2016"

The young Frenchman—who has easily been PSG’s best midfielder this term—eventually managed to show what he is capable of, with his stinging shot from distance nearly giving PSG the lead.

On a number of occasions, the Swiss team were sharper, brighter and looked far more dynamic than their hosts, hitting the woodwork twice. They could, and probably should, have been 3-0 up.

PSG’s first chance came after 30 minutes. Lucas Moura and Verratti hounded down Matias Delgado to win the ball, and the Brazilian winger raced forward and picked out Angel Di Maria. However, the Argentinian's effort was a harmless volley from the edge of the box that went wide.

Then the goal came. Renato Steffen switched off, and Rabiot’s beautiful inside pass picked out Matuidi. Again, just like against Ludogorets, his run down the channels made a huge difference.

But there was still a huge element of fortune in the goal.

The midfielder's cross took a deflection and caught both the centre-backs out. Edinson Cavani went to take a touch, which was heavy, but the ball fell to Di Maria, and the Argentinian attacker scored his first of the season.

Speaking to press after the game, Emery said:

"

We had a lot of respect for Basel, and they showed they can be dangerous. In the first half, it was tricky for us, and 1-0 at half-time was a good result. After the break, it was much better, we were more complete as a team, particularly in terms of positioning. We had a much better second half, we created a lot of chances and scored. We're going to try and improve still more in the weeks to come. We have another big match on Sunday at home to Marseille. We're going to focus on the Classico.

"

The move wasn’t a patch on Basel’s first-half play, and like against AS Nancy, PSG had their opponents' defending to thank for the goal.

It was the same with the second. Cavani missed a glorious chance to tie up the result, seeing his left-foot shot saved by Tomas Vaclik after the defence handed him the opportunity on a plate.

Then Marek Suchy’s clearance was dreadfully played right into the path of Lucas, and the Brazilian finished with his right foot.

After the game, Lucas admitted to Canal+ (h/t PSG official website):

"

We had some problems at the start of the game against a good Basel team. After that, we got ourselves going, we managed to score and that lifted the weight on our shoulders. The Champions League is a very special competition, all the games are difficult. Basel were compact in the first half, but after the break we spread the play and found more space. My goal came from a mistake from them playing the ball out - you have to take your chances. I was able to quickly take advantage, and it worked well.

"

For us viewers, writers and fans, football is about entertainment. It’s not only about winning, although that is the ultimate aim.

Football is gauged on trophies and promotions. No one will look back in 10 years’ time and question a poor first 45 minutes against Basel if PSG go on to lift the Champions League, or a dismal performance against Nancy on the way to a fifth consecutive Ligue 1 title. All that matters is the final result.

So much can be made about possession, expected goals, shot ratios and various other numbers. For Unai Emery, Nasser Al-Khelaifi and the people in charge of paying the bills, there is only one stat that matters at the moment.

If PSG are winning and continue to progress, it won’t matter. Fans may expect a certain level of performance at some point, yet surely the club would rather scrape by at this stage rather than win 4-0 or 5-0 and go on to falter in the competition's knockout stages. 

Remember when PSG beat Anderlecht 5-0 in the group stage in the 2013-14 tournament? Did it help them get any further than the quarter-finals? No.

However, the problem with the idea that only the results matter is when it comes to the bigger tests and the more important matches. Form is a huge indicator. You are never going to just pick yourself up from a poor game or a defeat and turn it on in the Champions League against teams the calibre of Barcelona or Bayern Munich.

The nature of the performance, the way it happens and how and why you’ve played that way, is important.

Both Basel and Ludogorets, despite coming away with zero points and six goals conceded against PSG, started both games much brighter than the Parisians.

The Bulgarians took the lead; Basel should have, too. After the game, Verratti hinted that when in the past PSG would start strong, they struggled later on, now it was the opposite. That’s all well and good, until you go a goal behind against much stronger opponents.

When the tougher tests come, what is there to suggest that PSG are just going to leap out of this slump and dictate the game, dominate and change how they play?

Former Valencia boss Emery has turned this PSG team into a mainly counter-attacking unit. They are not the possession-based kings that former manager Laurent Blanc created. On the face of it, that could work wonders against teams that would expect to beat the Parisians, but it would be much tougher to do it when you are already 2-0 down.

For just a second, imagine that Wednesday’s game was in the knockout stage. Two away goals and you are going out. It’s all hypothetical, but from the recent performances, it doesn’t feel too far away from reality.

In an ideal world, you would be judged at the end of the season with what you’ve won and where you’ve finished. But those days are gone in modern football. You are monitored on a week-to-week basis, and your every decision, or lack thereof, is put under the microscope.

Emery has so far failed to capture the imagination of the PSG fans.

They know it’s a learning curve. They no longer have Zlatan Ibrahimovic to bail them out, and it will take Emery time to pull up any trees.

Emery’s victories in the Europa League with the Spanish side masked his disappointing return in La Liga. Trophies can hide a whole multitude of sins. Yet there is only one trophy that has that power in the French capital, and at this stage of the season, PSG look a million miles away from Champions League success.