Rampant Barca PSG’S struggles in Europe piles pressure on Tuchel
Valverde lauds team’s display in 20 win over Inter in absence of their star man
GROUP A
GROUP B
GROUP C
GROUP D PARIS:PARIS Saint-germain coach Thomas Tuchel is enjoying domestic dominance yet the Champions League is proving a difficult challenge.
Once again, PSG’S season resembles an ongoing television soap opera. Some of the cast changes but the storylines do not.
The club’s impatient desire to fast track success has not solved anything because familiar flaws were glaringly evident in Wednesday’s 2-2 home draw with Napoli in the Champions League.
PSG struggles to dictate games against strong sides, losing its composure and shape when put under pressure. Only an injurytime equalizer from Angel Di Maria prevented a second European loss in three games, following a 3-2 defeat at Liverpool.
“We’re lacking a compact structure,” Tuchel said. “When you’re not compact you can’t play with intensity.”
Champions League Group C makes grim reading for PSG fans: third place with games at Napoli and home against Liverpool to come. It is some contrast from the luxury of Ligue 1, where PSG can record an 11th straight win by beating Marseille on Sunday night. But Tuchel will be judged in the Champions League. After three group matches, his side has conceded six goals — as many as in 10 league games. “I knew the group would be complicated, we’re not the favourites,” Tuchel said. “We have to improve, that’s evident for me.”
Complaining about a tough group is what modest sides do, not those aspiring to win the Champions League and bankrolled by huge funds.
Tuchel is in a difficult position, for no PSG coach has failed to get out of the group stages since cashrich Qatari investors QSI bought the club seven years ago.
In a candid acknowledgment after the Napoli game, he listed some alarming flaws for such an ambitious side.
“It’s difficult for us to respect our game plan and our structure for a full half. I don’t know why, but it’s tough,” he said. “We play with a plan and a structure for 15 minutes and then we lose it. We have to respect the fact that at the top level we can’t lose our shape and lose the ball easily.”