Trap avoided, trust regained and contract respected. All the ingredients were there for a trap night this Saturday night at the Park, but a PSG as rejuvenated as it was overhauled did very well by beating Strasbourg (4-2) this Saturday. A capital victory that erases the two previous failed outings, which allows him to regain his place as leader of Ligue 1, equal on points with Monaco, and to launch this decisive sequence with a sense of duty fulfilled.
Luis Enrique will have reason to be satisfied with the result, of course, but above all it is the level of play produced by a team that does not have his usual reference parameters (Skriniar and Doué starting for the second time this season in Ligue 1, Zaire – Emery right side, Mayulu in the eleven) and the seriousness shown during almost the entire match which will surely delight him. After missing their debut against Arsenal and Nice, Paris finally learned their lesson and had the good idea to get into the game straight away.
In pouring rain, this PSG without some of its starters (Hakimi, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes, Dembélé on the bench) could have fallen into the traditional trap of the match taking place after an international window. Especially since Strasbourg did not make their task easy by imposing a high and well-organised pressing, pushing the Parisians to make some small errors on the restart. The strategy of these Alsatians, unbridled and playful, turned against them from the moment in which Vitinha and co managed to free themselves from the opponent’s marking thanks to their technical quality.
The beginning of the Barcola addiction
The Portuguese, more in difficulty in recent weeks, has found the sticks and precision so vital for his team. His release of the ball on Mayulu’s goal (18th) clearly illustrated his importance in this sentinel role in which he airs the game, frees his partners, finds these spaces so precious. The Parisian Titi, already in sight a few minutes earlier after hitting the post (12th) and not far from doubling the lead (42nd, 50th), then thought about the rest by finalizing the left-footed action, of first intention, and with the poise of an 18-year veteran. Mayulu has demonstrated, once again, that age is a criterion that Luis Enrique cares little about and that he never hesitates to give the product a chance despite the risks that this may entail. The guilty relaxation of Lucas Beraldo, 20, and Willian Pacho, 23, on Sekou Mara’s goal (58th) to reduce the gap after Asensio’s goal (47th), illustrated this quite well.
But this youth also brings its dose of carefreeness, unpredictability, lightness in the air and in this little game Bradley Barcola is nowhere to be found. Having just won the title of Player of the Month for September in Ligue 1, the number 29 is equally inspired by the autumn humidity and multiplies his runs (20, 41, 65). In his left lane, he continues to make the audience of the Parc des Princes shiver and torture his direct opponents, poor Senaya can testify to this.
His 7th goal scored in the league (65th) once again testifies to his new dimension and his role as the team’s number 1 top scorer, while he had only scored five in the entire previous season. The beginning of a Barcola addiction? PSV Eindhoven’s arrival in the Champions League on Tuesday and the away match against OM on Sunday will be two other great tests that will allow us to validate this thesis and get an idea of the path that PSG will really take this season.
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