PSG-Nantes: Barcola and Kolo Muani there, the Park on fire, life without Dembélé... Favorites and scratches

FAVORITES

Very smart who can predict which team Luis Enrique will line up on Wednesday in Dortmund. A team without Ousmane Dembélé, suspended (see elsewhere). In the meantime, two players scored points on Saturday, the two Parisian scorers, and in particular Bradley Barcola, started for the second time in a row. In Le Havre (2-0 victory), however, he had to give up his place after 12 minutes, after the expulsion of Gigio Donnarumma. All after missing a boatload of opportunities against Newcastle (1-1). “He had a great match,” summarizes Luis Enrique, even if the ex-Lyonnais was beaten with a header on the Nantes goal and we would have liked to see him even more enterprising. Entering the game, Randal Kolo Muani also made a convincing appearance, finding the net against his former club after having experienced “a lot of lows” since the start of the season. Two players who really needed confidence and who took it in stride.

Certainly, PSG dominated the debates on Saturday. Logic. But the Canaries did well, for the second of Jocelyn Gourvennec on the bench, after having brought down Nice (1-0). All in a difficult context after the death of a supporter. The FCN had not changed its system and almost no composition. Finally, the entrants made Nantes fold at the end of the match. “When we are able to play these matches against Nice and Paris, it should push us to say that we are a good team and that we want to become a very good one, which we are not yet,” slips Gourvennec, whose players are as close to Europe… as to the red zone.

Day of celebration in Virage Auteuil, where we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Parias Cohortis. We saw magnificent tifos flourish before and during the match. Fireworks in front of the stadium before the match. Also at the end. Which may not please everyone at the LFP… In the meantime, it was a show in the stands. So much the better, because the spectacle was not always there on the pitch, especially in the first half, before the first Parisian goal...

PSG is playing “its life” in Dortmund, in any case its European future. The returns of the injured Marquinhos and Warren Zaire-Emery are therefore very appreciable. The first named, whose return to action was initially scheduled for this match against Nantes, delivered a solid game, he who started in the starting 11 before giving way to Milan Skriniar an hour into the game. The second – that we thought was out for the rest of the year – came in the second half. Everything suggests that they will be the starters at Signal Iduna Park. Choice reinforcements for Luis Enrique.

CLAW STRIKES

Luis Enrique may talk about the “total freedom” granted to Kylian Mbappé, the captain of the Blues played mainly in the center on Saturday evening. Rather on the left side anyway, combining and interchanging with Barcola, but still. That could have allowed him to score in the first minute, but Alban Lafont won the duel. For the rest, he struggled to be impactful and especially decisive against the Canaries. For a while, we have known that the preferred position of “KM” is on the left, with space and if possible a center forward who is not too greedy for balls, like the Blues. With Paris-SG, it's something else... That doesn't stop the captain of the France team from having exceptional statistics. But this may not be the best way to make the most of its potential.

Also read: Kolo Muani before PSG-Dortmund: “It’s our lives that are at stake”

It could be a crush. But Dembélé's very good return to school inevitably reflects his absence scheduled for Wednesday. The former Barcelona player picked up a “ridiculous” yellow card against Newcastle. He will be suspended for this C1 meeting. However, we clearly saw on Saturday that there is a PSG with and a PSG without him. Before his entry, the Rouge et Bleu lacked everything to unsettle the Nantes bloc. His dribbling, his speed, his taste for risk will be lacking in Dortmund. On Saturday, it was Kang-in Lee who stuck to it. The South Korean has qualities, that's for sure, but not the same as those of “Dembouz”. “He is unique,” ​​summarizes Luis Enrique. Not false.

As often in recent times, we saw a Manuel Ugarte borrowed and too often beaten in the duels against the Canaries on Saturday, far from the pitbull at the start of the season, the one who amazed his teammates and observers. Drop in form? Did we see him looking too good? In any case, the Uruguayan no longer has the same impact as at the start of the season, that's clear.