It was quintessential Paris Saint-Germain, only more so. For the first quarter of PSG’s Champions League group opener vs. Juventus, it was sensational, scoring two brilliant goals. Then it became self-indulgent, and by the end, while it was never exactly hanging on, it was definitely anxious. A 2–1 win over Juventus represents a useful start to its Champions League campaign, its first under Christophe Galtier, but it was nervier than it needed to be and, worse, that wobble suggested that the propensity to collapse under pressure that has dogged PSG in the Champions League has not gone away.
PSG has been in tremendous form so far this season in France, winning five and drawing one of its six games so far, and racking up 24 goals in the process. Some of the interactions between the front three of Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi have been mesmerizing, the sort of football PSG’s Qatari owners must have dreamed of when they bought the club in 2011. But it’s one thing to dazzle in France, quite another to do so in the Champions League.
Federico Tardito/Insidefoto/Imago Images
