Last season, the Parisian giant began its domestic campaign strongly, leading by a large margin over its closest rivals, while facing immense difficulties at the start of its journey in the new league stage of the Champions League with the participation of 36 teams.
Clear evidence of the Parisian crisis in Europe is the team’s mere four points in the first five rounds, where they narrowly won against Girona and barely drew with Eindhoven in front of their fans at the Parc des Princes, while losing to Arsenal 2-0 in London, to Atlético Madrid 1-2 in Paris, and falling to Bayern Munich 1-0 at the Allianz Arena.
But Enrique managed to overcome this modest start, achieving the impossible by winning all local and continental titles, and gifting PSG its first Champions League title in the club’s history, becoming the second French team to win the trophy after Olympique Marseille in 1993.
San German began the current season as the champion of the Old Continent, adorning its crown by winning the European Super Cup at the expense of Tottenham Hotspur on penalties after a difficult 2-2 draw in the final seconds of the match.
With the personality of a champion, the Parisian giant swept its rivals in the first three rounds of the league stage, and was among 5 clubs achieving a perfect record with Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Arsenal, and Bayern Munich, its opponent tonight in a heavyweight European clash at the Parc des Princes.
However, Paris Saint-Germain has suffered on all fronts this season, and its path has shifted from last season to a strong start in Europe, but a relatively modest one in the French league.
Winning against Atalanta 4-0, then defeating Barcelona 2-1 in Spain, and thrashing Bayer Leverkusen 7-2 in Germany, coincided with the team losing 9 points in the first 11 rounds of the French league, including three draws in the last five rounds.
PSG tops the standings with 24 points, but it has increased the ambitions of its rivals, as it is only five points ahead of Strasbourg in seventh place, while Olympique Marseille and Lens are chasing it with (22 points) each, and Lille and Monaco with (20 points) each.
The Parisian team’s suffering has not stopped at mere numbers, but it has become clear that the team is paying the price for participating in the Club World Cup in the United States of America, in the first edition with the participation of 32 teams, where it reached the final, and lost the title after falling to Chelsea 3-0 in mid-July.
Enrique suffered from numerous injuries in all lines of the team, as the team is missing the efforts of its young winger Desiré Doué, who contributed four goals in the 5-0 victory over Inter Milan in the Champions League final, and the fitness of Ousmane Dembélé, the team’s star and Ballon d’Or winner, has not been complete due to recurrent thigh pain after returning to play after a six-week absence.
Muscle injuries also plagued other players such as Bradley Barcola, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Marquinhos, the team’s defender and captain, and finally the midfield duo Fabian Ruiz and João Neves, who recently returned to participate in the matches a few days ago.
Enrique was also forced to rest full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes in some matches, and came out to defend the criticism directed at the new goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, who recently joined from Lille last summer, telling the media: “Don’t try to repeat what you did last season with Donnarumma, who was subjected to an attempted moral assassination.”
Despite all the technical and physical problems and offensive suffering, Enrique was calm, saying in the press conference: “I trust my team, we will play to win against Bayern, and we will seek to exploit the enthusiasm of our fans, the task will be difficult, but we are ready.”
The Parisian team’s problems this season are met with a strong start for its Bavarian guest, who achieved a European record this season by winning its first 15 matches in all competitions, with a fierce attack and defensive solidity at both the local and continental levels.
In the Champions League, Bayern Munich scored 12 goals and conceded only two goals in the first three rounds, and tops the Bundesliga with a perfect record (27 points) after scoring 33 goals against 4 goals in its net in the first nine rounds, while PSG scored 21 goals and conceded 9 goals in the first 11 rounds of the French league.
Vincent Kompany, the coach of Bayern Munich, also enters the Paris match with high spirits after a 3-0 victory over Leverkusen on Saturday despite resting a number of the team’s stars, while San German barely overcame Nice.
Amid Paris’s offensive suffering, lack of effectiveness, and declining fitness of its stars, the Belgian Kompany possesses a well-equipped offensive battalion, led by English star Harry Kane, the Bundesliga’s top scorer with 12 goals in addition to 5 goals in the Champions League.
Kane is assisted by other prominent weapons such as Michael Olise and Serge Gnabry, and strengthened the team’s ranks this summer with the duo Luis Díaz from Liverpool, and the Senegalese Nicolas Jackson on loan from Chelsea, in addition to experienced elements such as goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, the team’s captain, midfielder Joshua Kimmich, and central defender Jonathan Tah, while only the duo Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies are absent to recover from injuries months ago.
In light of the Bavarian awakening and the Parisian stumble, will PSG become the 16th victim of Kompany’s battalion, or will Enrique escape from returning to square one by losing prestige in the big tests?
