At Paris Saint-Germain, having a crisis in the fall is somewhat of a tradition, and this year is no different.
This season, PSG’s issue is that it occurs right before their matchup with rival Marseille, who appears revitalized under coach Igor Tudor and will be visiting the Parc des Princes on Sunday in strong form.
The French champion, who was looking to build on a strong start to the season in both its domestic and continental contests, had a clear path ahead of it just a week ago.
But the situation has suddenly and radically shifted.
When reports that Kylian Mbappé wants to leave the club during the January transfer window first surfaced this week, the team led by Christophe Galtier lost three straight draws, including two against Benfica in the Champions League.
In addition, French investigative media Mediapart reported on Wednesday that PSG had collaborated with an outside firm to develop a “army” of fictitious Twitter accounts in recent years in an effort to discredit media that the club believed to be antagonistic.
Mediapart claims that some players were also pursued, notably Mbappé when rumors of his desire to join Real Madrid in 2019 first appeared.
PSG has refuted the claims.
However, the situation at the capital city club is far from dire in terms of points.
PSG, which is still unbeaten across all competitions, leads Marseille by three points in the rankings and has two games left in Group H of the Champions League after its most recent draw against Benfica.
After scoring 24 goals in its first six league games, PSG’s play has gotten worse, and the squad is having a harder time scoring goals.
Galtier explained, “It’s just that we are less flashy, less clever, and less threatening. “At the start of the season, we were lot faster, and after we opened up the gaps, we played much more vertically.”
Mbappé became the club’s all-time leading scorer in the Champions League after scoring PSG’s 31st goal against Benfica.
Less than six months after the World Cup winner extended his contract, a number of sources in France and Spain reported that Mbappé wanted to depart during the January transfer window, just hours before the game.
Unfulfilled recruitment promises and Mbappé’s position in the front three at PSG are two of the alleged causes of his discontent. Recently, Mbappé made the claim that he prefers playing alongside another striker, like he does for the France national team, to playing as a pivot up front.
Galtier claimed last week that the team attempted to sign a different-profile striker to allow Mbappé to play in his preferred position, but that nothing materialized.
Mbappé, Neymar, and Lionel Messi, collectively known as the MNM trio, may return for “Le Classique” against Marseille.
Due to a minor calf issue, Messi has missed PSG’s last two games across all competitions. The Argentine great, according to Galtier, is feeling better and will probably play again on Sunday.
The match between PSG and Marseille, sometimes known as “Le Classique,” rose to fame in the 1990s when the entrance of notable performers like Rudi Voeller and George Weah sparked a fierce rivalry.
But since Qatari investors bought PSG in 2011, Marseille, the last French team to win the Champions League in 1993, has significantly slipped behind.
However, under Tudor, the southern French team is on a roll and will be vying for its first victory over PSG in two years.
With seven victories from its first 10 league games under Tudor’s leadership, Marseille has established an offensive style of play centered on pace, tempo, and a hard press. Tudor took over for Jorge Sampoli.
For the first time in more than a decade, Marseille won back-to-back games in the group stage after defeating Sporting Lisbon 2-0 this past week. A streak of 18 Champions League games without a clean sheet was also broken by the victory.
