PARIS – Paris Saint-Germain completed a disappointing week with a 1-1 draw at home to FC Nantes in Ligue 1, just days after a 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League. Luis Enrique’s men can remain unbeaten and with a provisional seven-point lead over AS Monaco at the top, but they are now winless in two games and exit Europe at their current pace.
Gonçalo Ramos returned to the Les Parisiens starting lineup and appeared to make an immediate impact with an assist on Achraf Hakimi’s early goal. However, the hosts failed to react and were punished by Matthis Abline’s magnificent equalizer in the 38th minute, which secured a valuable point for Antoine Kombouare’s visitors.
PSG had their moments during the match to get a second goal and Patrik Carlgren was forced to make some saves, but there were no more goals at the Parc des Princes. This has been one of the big problems for the Parisian team since the arrival of Luis Enrique and it is starting to become increasingly more expensive, especially in the continental competition.
“Here we totally dominated against Nantes, although they defended very well,” said the Spaniard after the game. “We lacked that objective. The objective is to insist, insist and be more efficient. In the second half we missed more chances. Especially in the final phases we lacked precision. The calendar is very difficult throughout Ligue 1 and the Champions League “.
It was the ninth time this season that PSG scored a goal or less in a match and it was against a struggling Nantes side that last won in August. Les Canaris are on a losing streak, but so are the capital club’s players, who can’t put an end to games no matter how impressive their xG or possession stats are.
For the record, on this occasion, it was 2.56 to 0.65 in favor of PSG with 10 shots on goal and another eight off, as well as six blocked in a whopping 84% possession. So how come you can’t score more than once when you’re doing enough to, in theory, get up to three times that amount?
That’s the question that more or less sums up Luis Enrique’s tenure in the French capital, although scoring prolifically was less of an issue last season. Goals still flowed relatively freely back then and it was just a matter of not scoring at the right times, but now there is a greater risk, or greater probability, of not even scoring.
Main goal threat Ramos is finally back on the field, but he didn’t look very good after only playing a few minutes in midweek against Bayern. The Portuguese international’s clinical touch will return, but the question is when and if it will be in time to save PSG’s season, especially in the Champions League.
“A lot depends on the profile of the striker. Gonçalo is a true goalscorer, an area player. We asked him to be present around the area and to push back the Nantes defense,” added Luis Enrique. “We were better than Nantes,” Ramos said of the draw. “It was a difficult game because we didn’t manage to score more than one goal. We created a lot of chances, but we have to keep our heads up and keep working hard. It’s just a matter of finishing and staying calm in front of goal.”
The accuracy of Ramos’ assessment could be decisive, as that uptick in offensive production must start coming now or things could start to fall apart with the pace, but it can’t just come from the former SL Benfica player. A seven-point lead in the Championnat could be reduced to four if Monaco visit Olympique Marseille on Sunday, while the UCL’s mission is simple: get at least seven points out of a possible nine and ideally three wins to be almost certain of advancing to the round of 16.
