da brwin： Despite being set to wrap up the Ligue 1 title, the French champions have endured a miserable campaign, marked by controversy and poor performances
da esport bet： League title pretty much sorted, then. The bare minimum for Paris Saint-Germain will almost-certainly be met on Saturday when they likely wrap up the defence of their crown.
In fairness, Ligue 1 is better than it gets credit for these days. Yes, PSG walk the league every year, but this is not a simple division to win. Simply being the best team does not mean you are required to batter the other 19.
Still, despite the credit that PSG deserve, this has been far from a stable season. The Parisians are set to crawl across the line, looking a depleted and underwhelming side since the turn of the new year. What should have been a convincing, double-digit points win, will now look far less impressive. PSG will, in all likelihood, lose more games than upstart runners-up Lens, and have a worse defensive record than ninth-placed Nice.
For any other team, these would be acceptable blips. But for PSG, this nation-state-funded marketing behemoth, imperfections are frowned upon. And this year, there have been plenty. The new manager has been underwhelming. The star players have underperformed and, quite literally, disappeared at times. Meanwhile, the frustrations of an increasingly peeved fan base have boiled over.
GOAL takes a look at why what on the face of it is a successful season has been so disappointing for those in the French capital…
(C)Getty ImagesMessi wants out
Weren't we always heading this way? When Lionel Messi came back from the World Cup, everything felt just a little bit different. The Argentine had checked off the final box on his career and completed football in the most perfect of circumstances. Everything else seemed kind of irrelevant.
And so it proved to be. Since Qatar, Messi has still shown flashes of his brilliant best, but he's looked every bit a player without guidance or motivation. He is not above blame for PSG's struggles since January. In fact, his languid showings are part of the reason why the Parisians have fallen so short of expectations. But is perhaps unfair to expect a 34-year-old to be talismanic every week.
And once the Barcelona rumours started, it has seemed like Leo's head is already in Catalunya. The expectation that he will rejoin his former club has only further complicated things. To PSG's frustrated ultras, he is now a traitor, no longer fit to wear the shirt. And as the boos and jeers have intensified, Messi has become even more of a passenger in a string of poor performances.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesNeymar's ankles don't work (again)
An ankle injury for Neymar is a yearly occurrence at this point. This season, the Brazilian finally gave in and opted to have surgery. He'd probably been needing it for a while; the sprains have added up.
But it was also an untimely injury for a player who was having his best PSG season in years. Neymar was on track for 20 goals and 20 assists in Ligue 1, production enough to make the rest of this stalling campaign far more comfortable than it currently is.
Still, his most recent problem derailed things and could have a lasting impact on his career. Neymar is now 30, and although the operation was reportedly a success, surgeries are not so easily recovered from at his age — especially given the Brazilian's extensive injury history.
PSG seem to be faced with the decision to keep or sell Neymar every year, and every time it feels a bit disingenuous. But with Messi almost certainly out the door, Kylian Mbappe effectively controlling recruitment, and an angry fanbase losing patience, they might have to take a more serious view as to what to do with the most-expensive signing of all time.
Getty ImagesDefensive issues
It is everyone's favourite critique of PSG that their superstars do not run. And that gripe is not wrong. Mbappe, Messi and Neymar do not put anywhere near enough of a defensive shift in for the Parisians to succeed on the European stage. Football cannot be played 11-v-8 these days.
But the remaining eight haven't exactly been solid, either. Before the season, PSG seemed to have sorted a pretty strong backline. Marquinhos, Presnel Kimpembe and one of Sergio Ramos or Nordi Mukiele would form a solid back three, with exciting wing-backs on either side.
Injuries have hit in droves, with Mukiele and Kimpembe both having their seasons ended early. But Ramos and Marquinhos have been markedly below their best in recent months. Most worryingly, perhaps, PSG are simply getting undone by long balls over the top, their slow centre-backs struggling to recover against more athletic sides. These are basic errors, and the very type of goal a back three is supposed to prevent.
Indeed, if solid defensive-midfielder Danilo Pereira has been your most consistent centre-back, then there's probably a defensive issue or two that needs addressing.
GettyAn unreliable Donnarruma
PSG are not going to get rid of Gianluigi Donnarumma. They are probably not going to bench him, either. However, there might be a little bit of concern around the big Italian goalkeeper. Although he can still produce impressive saves in droves, the shot-stopper has been error-prone this season.
In truth, it's something that can be traced back to the 2022 Champions League last 16, where he made two big mistakes to allow Real Madrid to overturn a convincing lead and win the tie. Donnarumma hasn't quite been the same player since. He made an error that allowed Kingsley Coman to score for Bayern Munich in February and has been prone to a blunder or two against lesser Ligue 1 opposition in recent weeks.
There is also the distribution problem. The Parisians like to keep the ball. That, by nature, requires a goalkeeper who can throw, punt and pass with precision. Donnarumma, though, isn't a particularly good passer and is often found launching the ball out of play. And his occasional blunders when keeping things short have also been jarring. He is still, somehow, just 24-years-old, and will improve. But his errors have been costly at times this year.