The vast banners unfurled by Paris Saint-Germain’s ultras just before kick-off, in the midst of pyrotechnics and a laser show, were inspired by the city’s motto.
“Battu par les flots, Paris n’a jamais sombre,”one of then read. Tossed by the waves, Paris has never sunk.
That defiant message resonates in a city shaped by what has at times been a turbulent history. But as a rallying call for a sports team, it seemed more suited to a club renowned for fighting against the odds rather than… well, a club in a leafy, well-heeled suburb in one of the world’s most glamorous cities, its fortunes transformed by the wealth of the Qatari state, its reputation one of lavish spending and “flashy, bling-bling”, style over substance.
This was the night when, tossed by the waves, 2-0 down to Manchester City and staring at the threat of elimination from the Champions League, a young, new-look PSG team stood firm, dug deep, won big and quite possibly came of age.
They still have to avoid defeat in Stuttgart next Wednesday to secure a place in next month’s play-off round, but this breathless, brilliant 4-2 win in a raucous atmosphere at the Parc des Princes felt like the start of something.
That might seem a peculiar thing to say of a team that reached the Champions League semi-final last season while winning all three domestic trophies, a team unbeaten after 18 matches in Ligue 1 this term. But for young players like Bradley Barcola (22) and Joao Neves (20) this was a statement performance and a landmark victory.
City have been beaten far too often in recent months, but rarely like this. PSG outplayed them in the first half and, unfortunate to find themselves 2-0 down, overwhelmed them in the final half-hour, when their energy, creativity and clever movements seemed to be underpinned by a kind of furious defiance, an utter refusal to accept their fate.
According to UEFA’s post-match data, PSG had 58 per cent of the possession. That is almost unheard of against Pep Guardiola’s team. But it felt like more than that, such was the way Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and the superb Neves — later joined by another precocious youngster, Warren Zaire-Emery (18) — dominated the midfield.
“They were better,” Guardiola told reporters when asked to explain how City had been beaten so emphatically. “They were quicker, faster. They win the duels with the ball.”
Guardiola put it down to PSG having an extra player in that midfield area, which made it peculiar that he did little to combat that perceived disadvantage.
But it was not just about numerical superiority in midfield. From back to front, from front to back, PSG looked so much slicker, so much more confident, so much more adventurous on the ball — everything done at pace and with purpose. The way they kept releasing Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, making underlapping runs from full-back, was a joy to watch.
The contrast with City, who look increasingly laboured these days, was stark. But perhaps the more relevant contrast for PSG is with their own recent past and with a team which, even before adding Lionel Messi to Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, looked too heavy on star quality and too passive when it came to off-the-ball work.
That team had its moments, but it came to something when even club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi told Le Parisien in the summer of 2022 there had been too much emphasis on “flashy, bling-bling” at PSG, pledging to rebuild with younger, up-and-coming players.
The rebuild has been more painful than might have been imagined; many of the players signed amid fanfare in the summer of 2023 have already been moved on (Manuel Ugarte to Manchester United, Hugo Ekitike to Eintracht Frankfurt, Milan Skriniar on loan to Fenerbahce, Randal Kolo Muani in the process of finalising a loan move to Juventus) or have made little impact.
But coach Luis Enrique has sought a way forward with highly technical young players like Neves, Zaire-Emery, Barcola and Desire Doue. It was Neves whose vast potential in the midfield holding role left the coach determined to sell Ugarte to United last summer. Neves appears so much more suited to a place in Enrique’s midfield: not just winning duels and pouncing on loose balls, as he did to great effect against City, but perceptive and progressive in his passing.
Previous games in this season’s Champions League campaign have brought questions about the Enrique approach: is it too dogmatic, too idealistic? Is his reluctance to use a specialist centre-forward counter-productive? Five games into their campaign, they had scored just three goals: one from a full-back (Hakimi), one from a midfielder (Zaire-Emery) and one from an opponent (Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga).
Even in the first half on Wednesday, when a front three of Barcola, Lee Kang-in and Doue all impressed with their approach work, it was hard not to wonder whether a lack of killer instinct might be PSG’s downfall. The three of them were starting, respectively, their 12th, eighth and second Champions League games. For all their obvious talent, there is a lack of proven firepower there.
The half-time introduction of Ousmane Dembele, back after illness, gave PSG a better focal point and a more direct attacking threat. He enjoyed himself. So did Barcola, sucking Matheus Nunes into a challenge near the halfway line and accelerating away from him to set up PSG’s first goal for Dembele on 56 minutes and then scoring the equaliser himself four minutes later with a scuffed shot after Doue hit the crossbar.
It was interesting to hear Enrique say afterwards that, while he wondered at half-time whether his young players would be able to sustain that “incredible rhythm and intensity”, he told them, “Just dare. Go for it.” They did. “And the key moment was when Barcola passed the ball to Ousmane (for PSG’s first goal),” he said. “This was like a whole new scenario unfolding.”
It felt like wave after wave of PSG attacks after that. In the 18 minutes between the equaliser and PSG’s third goal (a Neves header at the far post from Vitinha’s free kick) they had eight attempts to City’s none. Between the 54th and 85th minutes, the shot count was 16-0. It was one-way traffic, PSG rampant, City looking as helpless as they did at any point in that dire run of defeats before Christmas.
As much as it was Barcola’s night, or Neves’ night, it was Enrique’s night. “He (Enrique) has been criticised, but even if we had lost this match, for me he is the best coach in the world,” Al-Khelaifi told Canal+ afterwards. “We played today with identity against Manchester City. He showed that our team has DNA.”
It is easy to say these things in victory; Al-Khelaifi frequently acclaimed PSG’s identity, recruitment strategy and prospects during the “flashy, bling-bling” period from which he is now so keen to disassociate the club.
But this was the type of performance that should strengthen the conviction in a new vision behind both their recruitment and the type of football that Enrique wants to play — and as for the obvious question of where new €70m (£59m; $73m) signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will fit into a forward line that already has Barcola thriving on the left, the coach suggests it will be a pleasure to accommodate the Georgian’s talent.
PSG are still not certain of a place in the play-offs. They are 22nd out of 36 in the Champions League table and defeat next Wednesday, against Sebastian Hoeness’s impressive young Stuttgart team, would put them back in serious peril. The players’ euphoria at the final whistle on Wednesday might end up looking rather regrettable if the worst-case scenario happens.
But the celebrations did not seem to be about their prospects in the tournament or indeed about victory per se. They seemed to recognise — players and supporters alike — that this was a significant moment in the development of a young team which has been tossed by the waves in the Champions League this season (beaten by Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich) and seems, at this point, to have emerged stronger for the experience.
That is how Enrique is framing it. “It happened at Lens and at Monaco too,” he told reporters afterwards, referring to the spirit they showed in coming from behind to win. “I believe my team has lots of qualities. I’ve been telling you that for a while. We never give up. We carry on to the last second.”
Enrique insisted there have been better performances over the past season and a half, that this victory represented a continuation for his team rather than a launchpad. But even if his confidence has never wavered, this was a win that will increase belief within the club — not necessarily about Champions League glory this season but faith in this new project and these young players, who will be hoping that nights as memorable as this can become a regular event.
(Top photo: Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)
