Former Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm has launched a stinging attack on Paris Saint-Germain and their star-studded squad after they crashed out of the Champions League.
PSG were beaten 3-0 on aggregate by Bayern in the quarter-finals of the competition earlier this month. Their tepid performance means the French side are still yet to win the Champions League, despite the Qatari owners splashing huge amounts of money to sign Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Bayern completely out-played Christophe Galtier’s side in the second leg, winning 2-0 at a canter thanks to goals from Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry. PSG went out of the competition they so crave in the early knock-out stages for the second successive year, having been beaten by Real Madrid in the last 16 in 2021/22.
Lahm won the Champions League with Bayern during a glittering career and has written a thorough take-down of the club for The Guardian. In it he describes PSG as “a bland experience” and writes: “This exorbitantly expensive team resemble a luxury department store, displaying precious exhibits that everyone marvels at but no one can afford.”
Lahm believes that Messi, Neymar and Mbappe are all world-class players, but the problem is that they do not play as a team. He points the finger at Galtier for failing to come up with a tactical system to accommodate them, but believes the problem runs much deeper.
“Messi also showed his extra class in moments in Munich, but his skills are used without purpose or direction,” Lahm wrote. “The individuals at PSG simply do not know how to collectively score a goal and, generally, how to contribute. Messi was helpless and desperate at the Allianz Arena.”
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The former Germany star had a worrying prediction about Mbappe, too. “His talent is not embedded,” he wrote. “In Munich he was constantly waiting for the ball to fall at his feet. It is difficult to imagine how his career will blossom in Paris.”
Mbappe signed a new three-year contract with PSG in May as the club pulled out all the stops to prevent him from leaving for Real Madrid. But their failure in the Champions League will likely see more speculation about the France star’s future.
Meanwhile, Messi’s contract expires at the end of June and the Argentina star has been strongly linked with a move to Inter Miami in MLS. The 35-year-old is coming towards the end of his career, although PSG have already made an offer to try and keep him in Paris.
Former PSG winger Pablo Sarabia summed up the problem at the club in a recent interview with the Telegraph. “It was a very good experience, but for me the most crucial thing is to feel important in the team,” he said.
“I prefer to play in another team to feel that unity, to be part of it, to be a member of the team and of a family, rather than just an addition of individuals.”
