PSG v Manchester City UEFA Cup preview

By: j | December 2nd, 2008

I am going to shoot straight from the hip and tell you that I have significant questions if PSG will take this match with a resolve to be victorious. In the group stage’s first match against Bundesliga’s Schalke 04, PSG barely put forth an effort and were lucky to escape with only a 3-1 loss. In the most recent 2-2 against Racing Santander, Paul Le Guen went to great effort to say they “weren’t going to sacrifice” the UEFA Cup but still kept Claude Makélélé, Ludovic Giuly, Guillaume Hoarau and Stéphane Sessegnon out of the lineup in-order to focus on last Sunday’s match against Stade Rennais. With this mind, I do not believe the UEFA Cup is much of a concern for the club and Paul Le Guen’s comments were merely to deflect criticism from supporters and even regulatory bodies who question a club not taking European competition seriously.

Mimicking the Racing Santander match, PSG faces a very important match on the weekend against Le Mans who are only two points behind the Parisians. Couple into the fact the PSG is dead last in Group A with a thin hope to advance, I expect a very somber approach against Manchester City.

Mark Hughes club as been plagued with extraordinary inconsistency and regardless of the enormous headlines they attract, they are a club only two points from the relegation zone and one of the worst defending sides in the Premier League. While much has been said of their promising future and an ownership with open bank vaults ready to be purged for Football talent, they are showing painful signs of a lack of chemistry. While the clubs media arm will force-fed stories of former-Real Madrid man Robinho traveling on public transit to immerse himself into life of Manchester, comments of the club “thinking small” and the question that many of his teammates ask whether he is a “team player” is burning a hole in locker room solidarity. While Mark Hughes certainly is the man to lead them to championships, it needs to underscored, if he is allowed to lead a Football team.

Returning to the specifics of this match, I expect a severely limited PSG lineup that like the Racing Santander match will exclude Claude Makélélé, Ludovic Giuly and Guillaume Hoarau with Stéphane Sessegnon and Clément Chantôme out with injuries. This will however lead the attacking force into the very capable hands of Serbian capped Mateja Kežman, Fabrice Pancrate and Péguy Luyindula. Mark Hughes side is facing a series of injuries issues including Robinho and the England capped duo of Micah Richards and Shaun Wright-Phillips. PSG will likely deploy a more defensive approach and while I noted their less than whole-hearted approach for this match, if they are patient and tightly mark Man City they can definitely leave England with points.

I will report on the match after it concludes.