The day before Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League semi-final against Lyon, the biggest game of the season, came a very unwelcome distraction.
During a tactical session on Saturday at Bougival, PSG Feminine’s training ground, a ball came in from a cross and both midfielder Kheira Hamraoui and forward Sandy Baltimore missed it due to a lack of communication. Hamraoui mumbled to herself, Baltimore told her to stop. Hamraoui is then said to have insulted her team-mate and swear words were exchanged before other players separated them.
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Training was cut short, and players and staff spoke about what had happened but Hamraoui was not present. Instead, the former Barcelona player took the decision not to travel on the team bus to the capital’s train station, Gare de Lyon, to take the train south, ruling herself out of the crucial game.
Aminata Diallo was also out of contention because of a stomach bug. She had been absent since Friday.
Two key players out of the equation is not the ideal preparation when facing your arch-rivals away from home but PSG have been here before.
Ten days before Lyon thrashed PSG 6-1 in November, Diallo and Hamraoui were driving home from a team dinner when they were stopped by two masked men. Hamraoui was beaten with an iron bar, her legs seemingly specifically targeted as she was left with deep purple bruises and gashes to her shins. Six days later, Diallo was arrested in connection with the attack. She was released without charge and the police investigation is ongoing.
Lyon had long reigned supreme on the domestic and international stage, winning a record 14 league and seven Champions League titles. PSG had always played second fiddle, until last year when they pipped Lyon to the league trophy for the first time and knocked them out of the quarter-finals of the European competition.
Two months after the 6-1 defeat, PSG knocked Lyon out of the French Cup round of 16 in January. Hamraoui played the full 90 minutes and Diallo came on as a late substitute. Lyon are, however, now five points clear in the league and both teams have their eyes set on a Champions League final. The gap is narrowing.
In the first attack of Sunday’s Champions League game at the Groupama Stadium, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, the top scorer in PSG Feminine’s history, stunned Lyon and the 22,774-strong crowd, putting matters off the pitch momentarily behind them.
PSG, however, crumbled under pressure, committing errors in their own penalty area. Goalkeeper Barbora Votikova was the biggest culprit. Votikova’s foul on Melvine Malard gifted Lyon a spot kick which was neatly tucked away by Wendie Renard on her 100th Champions League appearance. Later, her clearance fell straight to former Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg, who played in Catarina Macario to take the lead. A communication breakdown between Vitikova and Paulina Dudek gave Macario the simplest of tasks in tapping home.
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And yet, despite their play being littered with mistakes and thanks to a converted penalty from Dudek, PSG are only trailing 3-2 heading into next week’s second leg at the Parc des Princes, where their fans will create a hostile environment.
It’s where their Champions League campaign really kicked off following their 4-0 win over Real Madrid in November to top their group in front of a vociferous crowd. Diallo’s arrest followed the next day and the incident still affects the squad.
“When this affair broke out, I was shocked,” PSG captain Grace Geyoro told L’Equipe. “I tried to be fair, not to take sides because I had a super important role. I had to push the girls to play and win together. We can hate each other outside but on the field, we have to manage to win. I tried to ensure that everyone could feel good on the pitch.”
A few weeks ago, PSG launched an internal inquiry into what has happened around the team this season after Hamraoui’s lawyer, Said Harir, sent a letter to the club in March.
According to L’Equipe, Harir raised a “certain number of facts which seriously affect the psychological health of (his) client”. The lawyer also criticised the behaviour of Hamraoui’s team-mates Diallo, Kadidiatou Diani and Katoto. PSG declined to comment.
Hamraoui’s lawyer alluded to an “uneasy silence” and a “blameable passivity” on the club’s behalf and called on PSG to “put an end to the troubles of which (his client) is a victim to preserve her mental and physical health”.
Some say PSG players are prone to mistakes when under pressure but others believe the catastrophic defensive performance points to the mood in the squad. It is understood Hamraoui has not faced any punishment from the club and the head coach, Didier Olle-Nicolle, will speak to the players on Monday morning.
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Olle-Nicolle was also quick to say after the game that they couldn’t blame off-the-pitch incidents for their errors.
“No, honestly, that would be too easy,” he said. “We came together with the group to decide that she would have played this game. The errors are part of the game and Barbora… I don’t think she is a girl who was very affected.
“Losers always give excuses. If we are real competitors, if we want to deserve it, because we’re up against very good opponents, we have to find solutions in the game, on the pitch and not other reasons.
“It’s up to us to prepare well for the reverse fixture. It is a real appeal to the Paris people that I am making: we will need everyone to overturn this match and seek qualification.”
(Top photo: Valerio Pennicino – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
