PSG title defence commenced on a disappointing note when they went down to newly-promoted Lens 0-1 on Thursday. Ignatius Ganago scored the only goal in the 57th minute when he was presented a gift by PSG's 3rd choice goalkeeper Marcin Bulka who made a mess of a pass.
The depleted PSG side was missing a host of their big names that include their front quartet of Kylian Mbappe(who remains in isolation and monitoring after contacting the coronavirus), Neymar, Mario Icardi and Angel Di Maria. Other notable absentees include Marquinhos and 1st and 2nd choice goalkeepers Keylor Navas and Sergio Rico.
The Parisian had the majority of the possession(78%) but lacked the cutting edge in the opposition final third who then took advantage of a slopy and weakened PSG play. PSG had just 1 shot out of 8 on target compared to their host 3 shots on target from 7 shots. That stats just summed up PSG's evening.
Some would argue that PSG should be cut some slacks having just less than 3 weeks(having played UCL final about 3 weeks ago) to prepare for the new season. However, PSG still paraded some of the big names in the sport such as Ander Herrera, Idrissa Gueye, Marco Verratti, Pablo Sarabia in the starting lineup and should have fared better against a newly promoted side.
It's a minor hiccup though as it was just PSG's 1st league game of the season and they are well capable of quickly turning things around. The Thomas Tuchel tutor side lost only 3 league game and finished with 12 points clear of 2nd placed Marseille last season on their way to the 7th Ligue 1 title in 8 seasons.
About 5000 fans were allowed into Len's Stade Bollaert-Delelis despite recent reports of some players contacting the coronavirus. I don't know about you but despite my desire for fans to be back in Stadia as soon as possible, i think it's a bit too early and it poses a bit of a risk.
Thanks for your time.
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