The successful recovery of Paris Saint-Germain, thanks to the strength of its overwhelming success against Nantes (4-0) to win the 2022 Champions Cup. If many players like Neymar or Lionel Messi have scored points, others may have lost.
After a well-negotiated pre-season tour in Japan, PSG confirmed their good form at the moment with their first victory against Nantes (4-0) at the Trophée des Champions 2022 on Sunday. Worn by the duo Neymar and Messi, the capital club made a brief run with the Canary Islands for the official premiere of Christophe Galtier on the Parisian bench. We pulled five big winners from this meeting, versus losers.
Winners:
Christoph Galtier
It’s hard not to make him the evening’s biggest winner. For the first time on the Parisian bench, the 55-year-old has presented an attractive Parisian squad, although he is still in the running. In line with what we can glimpse in Japan, the Frenchman has reaffirmed his confidence in his defense trio with Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe. Adventurous with the ball, regularly mobile, and active when the ball is lost, Christophe Galtier seduced Paris Saint-Germain’s by returning to school. The ex-OGC Nice coach also received the compliments of his Nantes counterpart Antoine Compoire. Shield of the first direct entry to the treasury of the capital club. This good momentum now only needs to be confirmed to resume in Ligue 1 against Claremont on Saturday (9pm).
Lionel Messi
After a mixed first season at Paris Saint-Germain, Lionel Messi promised to deliver the best. Expected at the turn of this first deadline of the season, the Argentine present on the Tel Aviv side responded. The first scorer of the match after a beautiful hook on Alban Lafont, the former FC Barcelona star fired his technique perfectly. Highly pivotal and often found between the lines by his associates, the sevenfold Ballon d’Or manages to find himself in situations favorable to what he knows how to do best. His restored physical condition should also be put together with the good news. After scoring two goals in Japan, there is a third goal to be scored in July. He received the Man of the Match award as a reward. Good omen for the future.
Neymar
“Everything will be back this season.”Starting with free kicks? If it takes a few minutes to enter the meeting, the Brazilian has turned into the attacking captain of the Paris Saint-Germain team, finding his legs. A superb goal scorer before the break, the Parisian No.10 ended a rarity he had been trailing since 2019 with a free kick. Always on the move in the second half, he gave himself a remarkably changed penalty double against Alban Lafont, victorious in the last duel so far. Amid rumors about his future, the international star appears to be fully focused on the upcoming matches with PSG. Like Lionel Messi, his good physical condition is good news for the capital club.
Vitinha
The first recruit under Luis Campos at Paris Saint-Germain, the young Portuguese midfielder has taken a huge leap forward by joining the capital club this summer. Created alongside Marco Verratti in the midfield, Lusitanian quickly demonstrated that he was a player who was more comfortable with the ball, certainly more than without him unlike many Parisian midfielders. His technical complicity with Marco Verratti is already a good point for the first time as he was placed between the lines and his ability to play quickly, without doubling down on unnecessary ball touches, has allowed PSG to advance faster. Serious and practical first.
This Sunday, the Portuguese will not miss a pass on the green rectangle (43/43). The former Dragoes player could have been decisive in the early minutes of the match if Achraf Hakimi had not faced Alban Lafont. It will surely take a lot of Vetnia to secure a starting place in Christoph Galtier’s side, but the small size’s first steps are promising.
Sergio Ramos
The big winner in this system change is definitely right now. Along with Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe, the Spaniard put on a serious performance that culminated in a new goal. His third in Parisian colors in just 14 appearances. Facing an attack prone to causing him problems with racy players like Moussa Simon and Ivan Gisand, the former Real Madrid captain responded. When it comes to good points distribution, it’s hard not to award a point to the 36-year-old defender. In the absence of the defensive reinforcements that the Parisian side had always hoped for, Sergio Ramos marked his area.
losers:
Arno Kalimundo
In the absence of Kylian Mbappe (suspended), the young striker of the 2002 generation could have taken a key place at the front of the Paris attack. Christophe Galtier finally preferred Pablo Sarabia, a defensive alternative more able to tone down the Verratti tandem and Vitina in the sequences. With ten short minutes of play, the Frenchman has managed to put himself ahead but when it comes to calculating, he will be ranked among the losers of this encounter. At first, the France international can’t claim to be comfortable with this first deadline of the season, and his future in the Parisian attacking rotation still poses a lot of questions the departure can find answers to.
Warren Zaire Emery
Although we didn’t imagine him starting the game, the talented 16-year-old midfielder finally left the scoresheet to settle in the stands of Bloomfield Stadium. The good signals sent during the tour in Japan were not enough for the 2006 generation player to sit on the Paris bench. Nothing discourages him, however, as the season will be long, and the chances of snatching the minutes should offer the same to the original youngster from Montreuil. And the well-established departure of Idrissa Gaye to Everton and Georginio Wijnaldum to Roma could allow him to gain ground.
#winners #losers #PSG #Nantes
