Out of the race for all cups (national and European), Paris-Saint-Germain is almost certain, with 15 points ahead of its first two pursuers in Ligue 1, to brandish its tenth title of champion of France. He still has ten games before that to overcome boredom. Starting on Sunday March 20 (1 p.m.), with a match against Monaco.
PSG are starting a final sprint in the Principality that looks like a way of the cross, as the specter of elimination against Real Madrid in the knockout stages of the Champions League on March 9 still haunts Parisian minds.
Luis Fernandez, former player and coach of the club – victorious in the club’s only European competition in 1996 – has his own idea to explain the shortcomings of Paris. “The European Cup is a separate competition. PSG sometimes has shortcomings, oversights. We never manage to have a team that is complete on the day of the big games. I’m not just talking about the workforce. You have to be complete in your head, well together, and united to tip the match in our favor and hope to go far in the competition. analyzes the current consultant for the BeIn Sport channel.
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An all but surprising elimination
Those who have started season 11 of “Qatar-Saint-Germain” will only have to watch the debacle against Madrid, on March 9, to have a summary of the rather bland 2021-2022 vintage offered by the Parisians.
The road once again seemed wide open after the first leg victory (1-0). But the vertigo of European summits again precipitated the fall of a team which went wrong on the return, with three goals conceded in seventeen minutes, synonymous with another improbable elimination on Spanish soil (3-1 defeat) .
For Meriem Salmi, former head of psychological monitoring at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (Insep), in Paris, the elimination is anything but surprising. “There were a number of signals that showed this team was in trouble. The problem is sometimes in management, support or structuring, which have a major impact on performance. On the psychological level it is important to treat upstream. Unfortunately, this aspect is often neglected, which can lead to this type of situation”develops the psychotherapist responsible for monitoring great champions, including judoka Teddy Riner.
This exit from the road sparked the ire of the Collectif Ultras Paris, a major group of Parisian supporters. The CUP hopes that the next off-season will be that of major cleaning. “ The situation of the club now requires a complete reorganization at all levels. (…) We will remain mobilized as long as real major changes are not put in place”, in particular detailed the organization in a press release published on Saturday March 12.
The reaction after the consternation, a classic in Paris
It was in a hostile climate that the meeting against Bordeaux was thus disputed the following day, at the Parc des Princes. Notably, Neymar and Lionel Messi were particularly jeered at every touch of the ball.
The Parisian staff was not spared either. A banner “Mbappé in Paris, Leonardo in the pillory” en reference to the sports director was brandished in the stands. The supporters had others – notably addressed to President Nasser Al-Khelaïfi – but the messages deemed too vehement were subject to censorship at the entrance to the stadium.
“ We must think of the supporters, and those who made the trip to Madrid, and for whom the return must have been very hard. They want to be respected when you wear their shirt and represent the institution. We now have to win the remaining matches and put our minds to it, without a hitch. It will require an exemplary attitude on and off the pitch. Only in this way can we erase this elimination a little. », assures Luis Fernandez, winner as a player of the first French championship title for PSG in 1986.
The Parisians won by a wide margin (3-0) on Sunday against the Bordeaux red lantern, reaffirming their ability to bounce back after a European failure, as was the case in 2017 (Barcelona) and in 2019 (Manchester United). “They are champions and it is very difficult for a champion to accept defeat, emphasizes Meriem Salmi. But it’s not painless, it’s impossible. Losing and losing again destroys confidence and self-esteem. It hurts in the long run »develops the psychotherapist.
“Ensure the minimum service” by winning in Monaco
On the player side, everyone has their own method of recovering from a disappointment. From the final whistle of the match against Bordeaux, Neymar took the first plane to Barcelona to join his relatives while Kylian Mbappé left to sit in the stands of the Pierre-de-Coubertin stadium to support his colleagues from PSG handball again involved in the Champions League.
As for the collective, the repeated disappointments on the continental scene translate into wear and tear, now perceptible even in Ligue 1. Following the first “remontada” of 2017 (the defeat in Barcelona), PSG had chained eight victories in the last ten games in the league. Two years later after the disappointment with Manchester United, the club had won “only” five, for three losses and two draws.
Such a record by the end of the season would push the club to the brink of institutional crisis, even if the damage is already done, according to Luis Fernandez. “They have to win to leave a good impression, especially since Monaco is in a critical period [à 9 points du podium en championnat et éliminé en Ligue Europa]. But that won’t change anything, the humiliation and the crisis are already there. We must now ensure the minimum service, ” blows the former captain of the Parisian club.