PSG-Brest: the return of the Dembélé/Hakimi axis, Brassier disrupts… Favorites and scratches

FAVORITES

With Kylian Mbappé, the statistics are often there. He is already at 30 goals since the start of the season, a total that many great strikers will not even reach at the end of the campaign. Wednesday, during the 3-1 victory against Brest in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France, “KM” did more than score a new goal. Already, it was a magnificent goal, a cannon shot which left Grégoire Coubert no chance. But beyond that, Mbappé guided the Parisian attack throughout the match, making a final acceleration to unsettle the Brest defense and provide the impetus before the third Parisian goal, the work of Gonçalo Ramos. Last but not least, the person concerned did not hesitate to make the effort when he lost the ball. All this despite the muscular treatment of certain opposing defenders (see elsewhere). And despite the rumors that are rife about him. Good, very good Mbappé one week before C1.

Between the small physical glitches of one and the transition to the CAN of the other, Luis Enrique had to give up on one of the strong links of his team, the Dembélé/Hakimi tandem. The two players have gotten along like thieves since the start of the season. The return of this association bodes very good things for Paris-SG, as we saw on Wednesday evening. And again, we have already seen Achraf Hakimi more influential, the latter making us forget his lost duel on Steve Mounié's headed goal by offering the 3-1 to Gonçalo Ramos at the very end of the match. “Without this doublet, PSG is not the same team,” summarizes Brest coach Éric Roy to the press.

Once again, Brest shook Paris Saint-Germain. The Rouge et Bleu won 3-2 at the wire at Francis-Le-Blé before conceding a 2-2 draw at the Parc des Princes. This time, it was Luis Enrique's players who scored the fourth goal of the match, they who led 2-0 before being caught in the first two confrontations. “It’s not an untouchable Paris. It's a very good team, which has a well-defined style of play and which does it quite well. But like any team, they have flaws. For our part, we tried to play on their flaws. It worked for us (in the first two matches). This evening, a little less,” squeaks Hugo Magnetti. The Brestois have once again shown that their third place in the L1 standings has not been usurped. Without the objective of the Coupe de France, they now only have the championship to dream of. And when we can target Europe, that's enough.

CLAW STRIKES

Lilian Brassier assures that he wanted to “intervene on the ball”. Éric Roy promises that he “is not a bad boy”. The gesture of the 24-year-old defender is, however, not excusable. This earned him a second yellow (69th), after an elbow to Danilo Pereira for the first (60th). And again, he was not far from the second yellow just before, already on Mbappé (68th). He crushed his crampons on Kylian Mbappé's Achilles tendon, twisting his ankle badly. Without consequence ? Not sure, even if the person finished the match. One thing is certain: it is not because Brassier's gesture is inexcusable that we can accept the flood of insults he received on social networks.

Also read: PSG: big scare for Mbappé's ankle, more fear than harm?

Already deprived of his midfield hub, Pierre Lees-Melou, suspended, Éric Roy chose to put most of his executives on the bench at kick-off, goalkeeper Marco Bizot, the captain and captain of defense Brendan Chardonnet and playmaker Romain Del Castillo. That did not prevent Brest from looking good for a good part of the first half and rekindling the suspense thanks to Steve Mounié's goal in the second half. “At halftime, we said to ourselves that we could still come back. If we stay at 11 against 11, maybe we can still shake them up. Unfortunately, we took this red which puts us in difficulty,” summarizes the captain for one evening, Magnetti. Roy's coaching choices didn't help, but can you blame him? “We're on a bit of a tightrope, we don't have an infinite number of staff. We have a big fight awaiting us in Clermont on Sunday,” underlined the ex-Nice coach. If Stade Brestois manages to climb into the European places at the end of the season, everyone will have forgotten this “turnover”.

We almost feel sorry for him... Despite the price of his transfer, €80 million including bonus, Gonçalo Ramos knew well that he was not reaching conquered territory in Paris, which paid even more for his direct competitor, Randal Kolo Muani. Except that the latter is barely more in Luis Enrique's little papers than him. In the end, the Spanish coach maintains his confidence in Bradley Barcola to liven up the left side, and he made Kylian Mbappé his new number 9. Ramos, for his part, is only entitled to crumbs. Spearhead of Benfica last season, replacing at the end of the bench in Paris. On Wednesday, it was on the left side that this pure-play center forward was allowed to stretch his legs. Luis Enrique mercilessly. The former Spanish coach is not afraid to take responsibility for his choices, he does not pretend and does not care about reactions. All powerful. So much the worse for last summer's second most expensive recruit, who must be wondering what trouble he got himself into by signing up for the French capital club last summer...