PSG and Atlético contrast their ideas in a duel with many emergencies

Opposite styles, very similar needs (and urgencies). What should be a duel to get into the top eight is, today, a battle to escape from the bottom and not give in to a feat to advance to the next round in the Champions League. Paris Saint-Germain and Atlético de Madrid are not experiencing their best moment in Europe and tonight they contrast two antonymous football models in a Parc des Princes that will be dressed to the nines.

Neither team is there to shout about, but Atlético’s situation is especially delicate, which is not doing well either in the League, where it is ten points behind Barça after just twelve games, nor in the Champions League, where it does not even occupy a of the 24 places that guarantee its continuity in the highest continental competition. “It’s still early, the season is long and the numbers are made at the end. What counts is meeting the objectives,” Simeone defended yesterday, in the preview.

The panorama

Giménez, sanctioned, aggravates the rojiblancos’ problems in defense

But the data does not lie and his European career is very erratic, something that is even more accentuated when he has to move away from the Metropolitano. Of their last ten Champions League games away from home, they have lost seven and only won one. Their last attempt, just a few weeks ago, was a complete disaster, leaving Da Luz beaten (4-0).

The red and white team will try again in Paris, a challenge that is not easy because, in addition, the suspended Giménez will not be in their already weak defensive line today, forcing the Argentine coach to relocate some players. “I love how PSG plays, they have a very good dynamic and the absolute seal of their coach,” praised Cholo.

The mattress team will face a somewhat unpredictable rival. Not because of his approach, where Luis Enrique battles with his ideas against all odds if necessary, but because of his performance. Solid leader in the French domestic competition, no surprise here, he is having a hard time finding the key in the Champions League in his first year without Mbappé. The Asturian coach has a young team with less experience than in recent seasons and it seems that he is still paying for it.

This PSG also has two positions as fundamental as goalkeeper and center forward that are poorly defined to aspire to glory. In goal, the Russian Safonov, a starter last weekend, discusses the position with Donnarumma. And, in attack, there is no pure scorer and it seems that Marco Asensio will be the number nine against Atlético after the experiment with Kang In Lee did not work either.