Paris SG, very revamped, lost on Saturday in Strasbourg (2-1), the second loss in a row in Ligue 1 after that against Nice on April 25 (3-1), before the semi-final return of the Champions League on Wednesday against Arsenal.
PSG had lost last week, at the Parc des Princes, against Nice (3-1), just before the semi-final go to C1 in London, won Tuesday by the French club (1-0).
Before trying to win a place in the final on Wednesday, Luis Enrique and his men will not panic, especially since the stake was still less than against Nice, where the Parisians tried to break the record of invincibility over a season.
Malmed Paris
Logically, Luis Enrique has aligned one of the most revised teams of the season, in order to spare the holders of the Champions League. Ousmane Dembélé, in the process of recovery after his slight injury to the right thigh on Tuesday, and Gianluigi Donnarumma did not even make the trip. Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz or Khvicha Kvaratskhelia observed the meeting from the bench.
And that was immediately felt with a Mayulu (19) – Lee – Zaïre -Emery less dominant environment, a defense Axel Tape (18) – Beraldo – Hernandez without a benchmark and without rhythm, and a Ramos – Barcola – Mbaye (17) attack.
It was therefore not surprising to see Strasbourg open the scoring on a corner, already Achilles heel of PSG in normal times. Lucas Hernandez unfortunately deflected for his goal a head of Mamadou Sarr (20 ‘). Little dangerous despite the majority possession of the ball, PSG conceded other occasions, including a strike from Dilane Bakwa at the steep (23).
-Lightning Barcola
And it was at the very end of a laborious first period of the Parisians that Strasbourg scored the second goal, a beautiful distant strike that Félix Lemarechal took the time to wrap in the skylight (45+2).
In response, Bradley Barcola, a holder who was to show himself after seeing “Kvara” and desired Doué pass him in front of the hierarchy of holders in the Champions League, returned from the pause as a hello. He placed a lightning acceleration which surprised the excellent Djordje Petrovic (46, 2-1).
Luis Enrique then brought in Désiré Doué and Fabian Ruiz to continue putting pressure on Strasbourg and give a little playing time to Arsenal front frames. But the Parisian score was not less muddled, like the widely failed strikes of Goué or Mbaye. As for Gonçalo Ramos, it was transparent, and does not seem to be able in its current form to be an alternative to the center-forward position on Wednesday in the event of failure of Ousmane Dembélé.
Strasbourg can believe it
For his part, Strasbourg seized the opportunity of the rotation of Parisian workforce to win, not without suffering. The Alsatians did not build their success on the intensity that characterizes them, but on a stroke of luck (the first goal), a good against (the second) and their global solidity, in the wake of a good Djordje Petrovic.
The slightly crazy dream to get a place in the Champions League takes thickness, in a Meinau still boosted on Saturday. Racing, fourth provisional before the matches of its now pursuing Lille, Monaco and Lyon, has conceded only one defeat in 19 championship matches since December.
In addition, he has just dismissed the last cloud from his calendar. Because Racing will face two badly classified: Angers (currently fifteenth) and Le Havre (sixteenth). But he may have to do without two of his out-wounded holders, Diego Moreira (62nd) and Mamadou Sarr (69th). This should not start the confidence of a group that keeps surprising.
