Tuchel wants more from PSG
PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel accepted that his side has to improve in Champions League after requiring an injury-time Angel Di Maria goal to draw 2-2 with Napoli on Wednesday.
PSG looked beaten until Di Maria curled home in the third minute of stoppage time, salvaging a point from a game in which the French giant was second-best for long spells.
Prior to that it looked as though goals from Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens, either side of a Mario Rui own goal, would give Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli the victory in the French capital.
Instead, the biggest beneficiary was surely Liverpool, which moved top of Group C after easing to a 4-0 win over Red Star Belgrade in the night’s other game.
PSG sits third, a point behind Napoli with a trip to Italy up next before Liverpool visits Paris next month.
That means there is a real risk that a club with ambitions of winning the Champions League could be sent packing in the group stage.
“We can improve, it’s not possible to make errors because the opposition are very strong,” said Tuchel, who has been showered with praise after his side won all 10 its opening Ligue 1 games, a record-breaking start to a French season.
“I have lots of respect for the teams in this group. I knew before it would be really complicated, and in my opinion we are not the favorites. This group is really difficult and we can’t be surprised.”
Doubts had already been raised about PSG’s true capabilities at this level when it performed poorly in losing 3-2 to Liverpool at Anfield, and once again it was exposed, with Ancelotti reveling in his latest return to the French capital.
It was an accomplished away performance from Napoli, but PSG’s all-star attack of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani toiled for much of the evening, which was a world away from the strolls they so often enjoy domestically.
“It is always complicated against an Italian team because of the culture they have,” said Tuchel.
“We are not an Italian side, we are not Atletico Madrid, we are PSG and we have another style.
“They have been together for years, and we have been together for just 11 weeks, but we must improve, that is clear.”
Ancelotti coached PSG to the Ligue 1 title in 2013 before leaving for Madrid, and he first returned to Parc des Princes a year ago in charge of Bayern Munich only to be fired by the German giant after a chastening 3-0 defeat.
This time his Napoli team was excellent for long spells, fresh from beating Liverpool in its last European outing.
“We played well, and I think we would have deserved the victory for our efforts, but that is what playing PSG is all about, they have players of such quality,” said Ancelotti, who coached Di Maria at Real Madrid.