Emmanuel Petit, former player of the France team and Arsenal, was not reassured by PSG’s performance despite the victory at Liverpool (0-2) on Tuesday and the qualification for the semi-finals of the Champions League.
PSG’s third qualification in a row for the semi-finals of the Champions League did not reassure Emmanuel Petit. The 1998 world champion, consultant for RMC, did not recognize the Parisians despite their victory in Liverpool (0-2) on Tuesday in the quarter-final second leg of the Champions League. He points out the way Luis Enrique’s men suffered from English pressure in the second half.
“For 25 minutes, everyone disappeared”
“I wasn’t impressed,” he said when analyzing the meeting. “In the first half, PSG was on par with Liverpool. In the second half, I saw PSG who were not very far from breaking but who held on thanks to Safonov and Marquinhos, who I found enormous. Liverpool fell like thunder on these players and it reminded me of Aston Villa’s evening last year without the goals. I found PSG worrying.”
Last season, PSG suffered a scare in the quarter-final return at Aston Villa where they lost (3-2) after winning the first leg at home (3-1). The scenario is, this time, not quite the same since the teammates of Ousmane Dembélé, author of a double, beat the Reds twice.
Which does not change the harsh judgment of the former Monaco, Arsenal or Barcelona midfielder. “For 25 minutes in the second half, I didn’t see PSG,” he insists. “Dembélé, on the only real counter-attack, shut down Anfield. I didn’t see Vitinha, I didn’t see the midfielders, Kvaratskhelia… they all disappeared. For 25 minutes, everyone disappeared. They lost all the balls, they weren’t doing anything anymore. I’ve never seen PSG suffer like that.”
Samuel Umtiti, 2018 world champion, somewhat shares Petit’s opinion but is more understanding on how to defend Parisians. “It’s true that in the second half, Paris completely disappeared because we weren’t used to seeing Liverpool like that,” explains the former Lyonnais. “We expected Paris to have possession for 90 minutes quietly. In certain matches, we can see PSG suffer. Me, it doesn’t bother me to see them suffer but when you suffer, you don’t have to concede. And there, we saw a central defense which was present. For me, it’s normal, you play away even if we didn’t expect to see Liverpool like that. They impressed me because, even while suffering, they were not put in danger. I don’t mind seeing them suffer for 25 minutes.”
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