Paris-Saint-Germain may have exploded its glass ceiling in the Champions League, it has since been walking on shards on the ground at the risk of gashing its feet. Despite the defeat against Bayern Munich in the final (1-0), on August 23, PSG finally took off this nouveau riche label unable to see further than the quarter-finals of the C1 since its acquisition by Qatar, in 2011.
First opponent this Tuesday, October 20, at the Parc des Princes, of a new European campaign, Manchester United also refers to these ghosts of a not so distant past. Those of March 6, 2019 with this ball fallen from the sky on the elbow of Presnel Kimpembe, the fatal penalty transformed by Marcus Rashford and an incomprehensible elimination (1-3) against an opponent yet of a confusing weakness.
This round of 16 haunted Thomas Tuchel’s nights and failed to bring about his downfall. From the past or almost. Today, the German coach can boast of a “title” of vice-champion of Europe but also drags other reasons for stress at work. Between the injuries of some (Bernat, Icardi, Kehrer), the positive tests for Covid of others (Di Maria, Neymar, Mbappé to name the best known) and two defeats against Lens and Marseille to start the season in the league, the technician no was unable to capitalize on its European journey.
An exit that does not pass
And then there were those recruits who took too long to arrive to his liking. 1er October, at a press conference, Tuchel is as impatient as he charges his management, which he essentially accuses of having mismanaged the departures of players at the end of their contract (Thiago Silva, Thomas Meunier, Edinson Cavani, Tanguy Kouassi ), and pull out the parachute. “With a season like that, the national team, the coronavirus, without preparation and with a program like that, I’m afraid that we will pay the price in October, November, December, January. “
In recent months, the German has reportedly lost credit with his locker room, which no longer really sees where he is going
Since then, the sporting director, Leonardo, has activated his network to complete the workforce with the last minute signings of Rafinha, Moise Kean and especially Danilo Pereira (arrived from Porto), this famous “sentry” claimed by Tuchel for two seasons for balance his midfield.
But not enough to completely unfreeze the relationship between the coach and his supervisor. “We didn’t like his statement. The club didn’t like it, and personally, I didn’t like it ”, reacted his N + 1 two days later, without a mask, to better display his most beautiful threatening smile after a large victory against Angers (6-1).
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