FOOTBALL: The Paris club is still not champion of France and got a third disappointment on Wednesday 17th April, 2019 in Nantes. They will have a new chance Sunday against Monaco.
Third attempt missed! The PSG , already humiliated in Lille (5-1) Sunday and declined many absences, lost against Nantes (3-2) on Wednesday 17th April, 2019, late in the match of the 28th day, still missing the opportunity to finally formalise its title of champion of France.
Fortunately, Paris is 17 points ahead of the championship because in the space of ten days, the ogre of the Ligue 1 has become a kind of little finger that no longer scares anyone. Even Nantes, 14th in the standings, managed to offer his head thanks to a double from Diego Carlos (22nd, 52nd) and a goal from Majeed Waris (44th).
“We are happy not to lose 4-1,” admitted, very bitter, the Parisian coach Thomas Tuchel, after the meeting.
Evening drifting
If the draw was enough at Stade Pierre-Mauroy Sunday, the teammates of Presnel Kimpembe, captain of a drifting evening, this time imperatively needed to win at La Beaujoire to validate their 8th league title.
With this third defeat of the season in the league, Paris will have to wait a few more days until the match against Monaco at the Parc des Princes Sunday night (21:00) he will have to win to finally conclude … unless Lille does not beat Toulouse earlier in the afternoon.
And to say that without the awesome “rescue” Eric-Maxim Choup-Moting against Strasbourg (2-2) ten days ago, the case would probably have been folded …
Ironically, the humiliation of Nantes took place just before the last posters of the quarterfinals of the C1: Manchester City-Tottenham and Porto-Liverpool. And the day after the feat of Ajax Amsterdam on the field of Juventus Cristiano Ronaldo, despite a budget five times lower than that of the Paris club! Striking contrast …
Mbappé and the absent executives
Thomas Tuchel, exasperated by the limits of his staff and the epidemic of injuries that hit the club since the beginning of the second half of the season, was forced to align an experimental eleven with including three young people from the training center.
Already deprived of Neymar, Cavani and Di Maria for several weeks, the German technician lost Thiago Silva and Thomas Meunier against Lille, while Marco Verratti and Juan Bernat were suspended.
Even Kylian Mbappe, his providential scorer spared from physical glitches, finally had to be absent. Why ? “It’s my decision with the player, it’s my management. There is no explanation, “said Tuchel after the meeting, annoyed by the reminders of journalists.
“Fish”
But neither Choupo-Moting, nor Moussa Diaby, N’Kunku, Diaby, or Paredes, have risen to warm the hearts of hundreds of Parisian supporters present at the stadium, with always in mind the fire that ravaged Our Lady of Paris Monday.
In the absence of the “shark” Mbappé surfaces, it is Dani Alves, aka the “fish” cloakroom as he had proclaimed himself in an interview with AFP, who thought, however, to have opened the way to the coronation of a sublime long shot lodged in the skylight of Dupé (1-0, 18).
But in the wake, the PSG has yet to show his big problems on set pieces by conceding a new goal on corner on a head Diego Carlos (22).
.@FCNantesEsports have just equalized against @PSG_inside in the 22nd minute – Will the defending champs win the title in #Nantes today or will it be put on hold for another game? 🤔
Head over to 📺 HD12 to catch all the action!#Ligue1 #beINLigue1 #FCNPSG pic.twitter.com/7Hn9y4SNRj
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) April 17, 2019
Goal gag narrowly avoided
Then the unthinkable happened when Thilo Kehrer, already guilty during the Manchester United “remake” in the C1 round of 16, collapsed before half-time!
Completely dominated in the duel by Kalifa Coulibaly on a harmless ball near the sideline, the German defender let the Nantais be at the origin of the second goal scored by Waris (2-1, 44).
At the return of the locker room, the Parisian rebellion did not take place. Worse, Diego Carlos gave even more brilliance to the performance in Nantes (3-1, 52nd) …
The coup de grace almost came a few minutes later when Paredes, winter rookie completely out of control, gave the ball to Coulibaly while Buffon was no longer in his cages (57th). A goal gag narrowly avoided …
Absolute scenes in #Nantes 😱@PSG_inside have just gone 3-1 down to @FCNantesEsports early in the second-half – Looks like @TTuchelofficial and #PSG will have to put the title on hold… #Ligue1 #beINLigue1 #FCNPSG pic.twitter.com/uhEocskDas
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) April 17, 2019
The reduction of the score of the young Parisian Metehan Guclu (88th) at the end of the match will not change anything. Rennes, the sworn enemy of the Nantais, can thank his neighbor: before his Coupe de France final on April 27, Parisian weaknesses have never been so exposed …
