Emmanuel Petit, former player for the French national team and Arsenal, was not reassured by PSG’s performance despite their victory over Liverpool (0-2) on Tuesday, and qualification for the Champions League semi-finals.
Petit, a 1998 World Cup champion and RMC consultant, did not recognize the Parisians despite their win against Liverpool. He criticized the way Luis Enrique’s men succumbed to English pressure in the second half.
“Pendant 25 minutes, tout le monde a disparu”
“I wasn’t impressed,” he said. “In the first half, PSG was on par with Liverpool. In the second half, I saw a PSG that was close to breaking but managed to hold on thanks to Safonov and Marquinhos, who I thought were huge. Liverpool came down like thunder on these players and it reminded me of the Aston Villa night last year without the goals. I found PSG worrying.”
Last season, PSG had a scare in the quarter-final return leg against Aston Villa where they lost after winning the first leg at home. This time, the scenario is different as Ousmane Dembele’s teammates beat the Reds twice.
Despite this, Petit’s judgment remains severe. “For 25 minutes in the second half, I didn’t see PSG,” he emphasized. “Dembele, on the only real counterattack, reached Anfield. I didn’t see Vitinha, I didn’t see the midfielders, Kvaratskhelia… they all disappeared. For 25 minutes, everyone disappeared. They lost all the balls, they did nothing. I’ve never seen PSG suffer like that.”
Samuel Umtiti, a 2018 World Cup champion, somewhat shares Petit’s opinion but is more understanding of the Parisians’ defensive approach. “It’s true that in the second half, Paris completely disappeared because we weren’t used to seeing a Liverpool like that,” explained the former Lyon player. “We expected Paris to have possession for 90 minutes calmly. In some matches, we can see PSG struggling. For me, it’s normal, you play away even if we didn’t expect to see Liverpool like that. They impressed me because, even while suffering, they were not in danger. It doesn’t bother me to see them suffer for 25 minutes.”
