Following Paris Saint-Germain’s disappointing 2-1 loss to Real Madrid, news outlets in France today rallied against the club’s latest continental failure.
Image: Angel Di Maria
Madrid secured their passage into the Champions League quarter final at the expense of PSG on Tuesday night despite an outrageous summer spending by the wealthy Parisian club. The failure makes it a second successive season they’ve failed to progress beyond the knockout round.
PSG coach Unai Emery is now facing an uphill task in his job as a manager of the club with his fate in the hands of power players at the Parc des Princes. Notwithstanding the speculations on his imminent sack, football pundits believe the public verdict is already out there for everyone to see.
L’Equipe was bold in its headline, ‘All this for nothing,’ making reference to the near half-billion euros spent on former Barcelona ace Neymar and Lyon starlet Kylian Mbappe.
According to the French news outlet, PSG’s performance at the European soccer tournament was below limitations in the Champions League.
In a more direct statement, L’Equipe wrote: “PSG understand what separates them from the European Champions.”
“They [PSG] never even gave the impression of being a threat,” it continued, adding that “the team showed there are significant differences that keep them below Real Madrid.”
Another popular sports news outlet Le Parisien lambasted PSG, calling out Emery for making bold efforts to reduce the club to one of the smallest in Europe.
“The tie between Real Madrid and PSG has exposed the limits of Emery’s men,” Le Parisien wrote, also arguing that their extravagant summer expenditure had proven to be a lost bet.
Image: Neymar (Source: The Sun)
Neymar’s move to Paris was necessitated by the need to improve his chances for a Ballon d’Or at the Parc des Princes and to break out from the obstacles posed by playing alongside 5-time world best player Lionel Messi. With PSG’s Champions League exit, the 25-year-old Brazilian seems to be drifting farther from achieving his individual and team objectives.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is the real boss,” Le Parisien wrote, “he has shown that he is the best player in the world.”
In Le Figaro‘s opinion, the French champions lacked cohesion and positivism ahead of the game and are yet to get their acts together.
“Real Madrid extinguishes the dreams of a small PSG,” their headline read, with highlights on the players’ fear or reverence of Los Blancos.
“The result threatens to be fatal for Emery,” it added.
