Sluggish PSG Hand Arsenal Advantage After Disappointing Draw

Arsenal fans tuning in on Friday night to watch Paris Saint-Germain’s fixture with Saint-Etienne will be rubbing their hands with glee going into Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League opener.

Not only did the Ligue 1 champions fail to beat Les Verts at the Parc des Princes, but they were dreadful throughout and only helped to make the London club favourites going into the opening group game.

Midway through the second half, Kevin Malcuit was penalised for a push on Blaise Matuidi—a foul that started outside the box, but it made up for the referee’s mistake in the first half—and Lucas Moura gave the Parisians a 1-0 lead from the spot.

Even a narrow victory would have masked the shockingly inept performance from Unai Emery’s team, but an injury-time goal from substitute Robert Beric grabbed the away team a much-deserved point.

#PSGASSE 1-1 90e + 2 BUUUUUUUT !!!!! pic.twitter.com/rWbq0PbQws

— ASSE (@ASSEofficiel) September 9, 2016

That exposed the Spanish boss to a whole host of questions going into Tuesday’s matchup. Emery told the PSG official website:

It’s hard to accept, but I have to stay cool, to analyse this performance. I don’t have anything to say about my players tonight, because I’m responsible for this result. I have to keep working on our tactics and style. The second half showed the way towards getting what I want. We have to find the right balance between attack and defence. I cannot be happy with tonight’s result.

PSG were far from at full strength. Thiago Silva missed the game but is likely to be named in the starting lineup against the Gunners. He hasn’t played a single minute in the league, but the centre of defence is far from the problem, though.

Thomas Meunier, starting in place of Serge Aurier, had a poor game. His marauding runs lacked intelligence, he gave the ball away too often and was out of position for the equaliser.

Attacking full-backs have been a huge feature of Emery’s early victories, especially in the Trophee des Champions win over Olympique Lyonnais.

However, that 4-1 win must feel like a lifetime ago after Friday’s lacklustre effort.

L’Equipe ratings for #PSGASSE Ben Arfa lucky to get a 4. Matuidi and Verratti were #PSG’s best. pic.twitter.com/Kf6qlSKtMW

— Andrew Gibney (@Gibney_A) September 10, 2016

To make things worse, Layvin Kurzawa—easily PSG’s best player this season so far—was forced off at half-time after pulling up following a trademark forward run into Saint-Etienne’s penalty area.

Following a forced half-time change, Presnel Kimpembe moved to left-back and Grzegorz Krychowiak …

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