PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain’s start to life without Kylian Mbappe in the UEFA Champions League was not exactly stunning yet Wednesday’s 1-0 win over debutants Girona is also not reason to panic for head coach Luis Enrique. The Ligue 1 giants were unable to break the Spaniards down until late on at Parc des Princes with Paulo Gazzaniga in inspired form between the sticks for the visitors before a howling error allowed Nuno Mendes to score after Ousmane Dembele was guilty of not taking Les Parisiens’ best opportunity.
The La Liga outfit were good value for a hard-earned point on their UCL debut which they nearly secured and the visitors arguably performed above their ability after a summer that saw many of their star names move on after an incredible campaign. It is easy to forget just how young this PSG side is, though, with main additions Joao Neves and Willian Pacho not older than 22 between them when added to what was already the youngest group of players in last year’s Champions League latter stages.
Although it was not an ideal way to start the new UCL campaign at Parc des Princes with a section of hardcore supporters missing and almost no goals to celebrate this new and more organic Parisien outfit is showing signs of developing into a top domestic and continental collective and got the luck to prove it. Had Goncalo Ramos and Lucas Hernandez been fit then we would arguably have had the full-strength PSG on display but working through those absences is also a character-building exercise for many of the French capital club’s young guns.
Captain Marquinhos is the elder statesman at 30 while Fabian Ruiz is also a relative veteran at 28 but even the seasoned Dembele is only 27 while Achraf Hakimi feels as if he has been around for longer than a 25-year-old. With that in mind, it is impressive that Luis Enrique’s squad is already in what feels like a process of fine-tuning despite losing Mbappe over the summer while Girona were stripped for parts and working through Ramos’ absence up top while producing some flowing soccer at times which arguably merited more than one single goal.
In fact, had Gazzaniga not made an array of excellent saves over the course of the 90 minutes, then the Spaniards might well have found themselves further behind than 1-0 by full time. As it was, Girona made life tough for PSG without really threatening debutant Matvey Safonov in the home goal and a loss or even a draw would have been a little harsh on the hosts given what was created. A sharper Dembele, for example, would have beaten Gazzaniga while Kolo Muani headed narrowly wide.
This sort of result and performance can happen with a group of young players and Luis Enrique will be delighted with how his group dug out the goal that was needed to turn one point into three but it was also a reminder that this is a process. Perhaps that is an unpopular opinion to have given what people have grown accustomed to with PSG but there can be little argument that it is for the best given the first five games which have produced 17 goals scored and just three conceded with five wins from five.
There may well be trickier games as this term progresses but this Parisien outfit already feels more balanced and structed than it did with Mbappe a part of it — even if they lack the obvious sprinkling of superstar-dust right now. If this group can stay focused and united while recuperating important pieces in Ramos and Hernandez in the coming months then there is no reason why they cannot be competitors as this new-look Champions League grows into itself with nobody really knowing what to expect.
