Thomas Tuchel Says PSG Were 'Insufficient' in Reims Loss; Defends Team Selection

Paris Saint-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel has described his team's performance in their shock 2-0 loss to Reims on Wednesday as "insufficient."

The French champions were stunned at the Parc des Princes in Ligue 1 after goals from Hassane Kamara and Boulaye Dia gave the visitors a deserved victory.

Speaking after the game, Tuchel was critical of the manner in which his team played and conceded the away side were worthy winners on the night, per Timothy Abraham of Goal.

"I'm disappointed with our performance," he said. "Playing in the Parc with the Parisian jersey is always special, and it is true that the performance was insufficient. The first 10, maybe 15, minutes went well, but then every minute that passed was worse and worse. We did not show what we are capable of doing—so defeat is deserved."

Reims were able to capitalise on some slack defending from the hosts, dishing out PSG's second loss of the Ligue 1 campaign:

Per OptaJean, not only was this the first time in 16 months that PSG had lost at home, it's been a long time since an opponent prevented them from finding the back of the net:

Tuchel made the decision to leave out a number of key players, with Thomas Meunier, Marquinhos and Angel Di Maria only entering the match from the bench. 

Idrissa Gueye wasn't in the squad for the game, either, while Marco Verratti was suspended. Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe and Mauro Icardi missed the fixture through injury.

With those absentees in mind, Tuchel made the brave decision to rotate his squad. Afterwards, he stood by his decision:

"I regret nothing because I have to manage my team and we lack players and we cannot use too few. And it's easier to analyse afterwards.

"We have to make decisions and I have made them. Now these are the consequences, but I do not think we lost because we changed players too much. It's more due to the way we played. We lost logically because Reims was closer to its optimal shape than we were."

The Get French Football News Twitter account said some of Tuchel's decisions had a negative impact on the team:

Even Neymar was unable to spare PSG's blushes on the night. Per Jonathan Johnson of ESPN FC, there was still a degree of animosity towards the Brazilian following speculation regarding a move to Barcelona over the summer:

Neymar has rescued PSG in their last two games, scoring late goals to help the team to wins over Strasbourg and Lyon. However, he struggled make an impression in a lacklustre overall display on Wednesday.

Although PSG have a number of injury issues to cope with, Tuchel will expect better from his side. Despite the loss, the Parisian side remain top of Ligue 1, with Angers only trailing the defending champions on goal difference.