Messi and Neymar walkers? PSG will never learn, without team performance success will never come

COMMENTARY – Over and over again. PSG will never learn. The French outfit wants to claw its way to Champions League victory by buying big stars and relying on their individual qualities. But if Lionel Messi and Neymar perform like that, it’s a road to hell.

Anyone who looked at the line-up before the game started and saw Messi and Neymar on the pitch might have expected a footballing concert. It’s just that for PSG to start winning tough games, they would have to start playing as a team.

Messi and Neymar were virtually cut off from the rest of the team at the spearhead, walking in the half court and the word defending was foreign to them. Of course, such stars can have similar privileges, but then they have to give back to the team in attack. And that wasn’t happening.

The South American partners were invisible until Mbappé’s arrival, confirming what is being spied in France. That Mbappé is more important to PSG than Messi and Neymar. Suddenly, the game changed, the Parisians started to get chances thanks to Mbappé and the 23-year-old speedster finally scored, albeit from offside.

Messi as a guarantee for the Champions League? On the contrary

PSG promised themselves that with Messi’s arrival they would finally win the Champions League. It put together the galactic trio of Neymar – Mbappé – Messi, which looks fabulous on paper and thought it would have no competition. But football is not played on paper, there is absolutely no chemistry in the team.

So last season PSG had a lower win rate with this trio in the starting lineup than when at least one was missing. For weaker clubs in Ligue 1, the quality of these players pays, but once a clash with a tough opponent comes, the team concept always has the upper hand over PSG.

Once PSG encounter tougher opponents in the Champions League, there is usually a problem. Last season in the group stage, while they beat Manchester City first, they lost in the rematch after a very poor performance and the legendary photo of the three stars watching the rest of the team defend from the middle became famous.

With Real Madrid, the Parisians also failed to win the double-header, even though they were already 2-0 up, conceding 3 goals in 17 minutes and dropping out in the eighth round. In the current season, they couldn’t beat Benfica Lisbon, who eventually overtook them at the top of the table, and now defeat to Bayern.

PSG’s biggest and only chance to win the millionaire’s trophy was in the 2019/20 season. Back then, the team gelled, Mbappé and Neymar acted as best mates, the team worked for each other and it led to the final.

It’s just that in the last two years, PSG has relied on individuality and has been unable to learn. Until they start playing as a team and pulling together, it will never translate into any success.

Source: UEFA