Saturday’s scoreless draw against Clermont Foot cost Paris Saint-Germain the opportunity to take over a temporary lead in the Ligue 1 rankings.
The defending champions wanted to continue their winning streak after two consecutive outstanding performances against Borussia Dortmund and Marseille. A scoreless draw with a struggling Clermont team shows that they still have ways to go under new coach Luis Enrique.
Despite defeating the Parisians on the road in the regular season finale last year, Clermont entered this match in last place and with just one point. Thus, Luis Enrique’s side is only temporarily fifth in the league, two points behind Monaco, with only three wins in their opening seven games.
Mbappe invisible after injury woes
Because of concerns over Kylian Mbappe‘s fitness, the Red-and-Blues squandered two points in their bid to defend their league crown. Despite worries about the 24-year-old’s fitness, the Spanish manager started Mbappe even though he had to be helped off the field with a limp in the previous league match.
Unfortunately for the away team, the France international could only muster a few half chances during the whole encounter. Now Luis Enrique has placed the blame for his team’s disappointing tie on the state of the field.
Luis Enrique meanwhile hits out at pitch
Clermont may take pleasure in thwarting the attack of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, and Randal Kolo Muani. However, the reigning French champions will have to accept the blame for their recklessness in front of goal.
Meanwhile, the ex-Barcelona boss thinks there’s more to the story, and he has blamed the unfavorable playing conditions at Stade Gabriel Montpied.
“Maybe we lacked a bit of intensity, but I also think it was very difficult to play because of the state of the pitch. The ball was bouncing around and it was especially difficult to control,” he said as quoted by PSG Hub.
“The ball looked more like a rabbit jumping. The state of the pitch was very bad. That obviously reduced our attacking possibilities but, despite that, we still had control of the game.
“The final result is a draw, but we could also have lost. Football is a very unpredictable sport. I looked at the statistics and we had 10 shots on target and a total of 21 shots. I think that should be enough to win the game, but that’s not what happened.”
Photo: IMAGO / PanoramiC
