Given the context, this was never going to be a normal title celebration.
The nature of Paris Saint-Germain’s season, and how they have ultimately stumbled over the finishing line, is one thing. But the serious accident that denied Sergio Rico the ability to attend Saturday’s celebrations affected the mood of the evening. For the squad and staff, it has been a very difficult week marked by concern for the wellbeing of a team-mate and colleague.
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So, rather than a party for an 11th league title, Saturday evening was dedicated to the Spanish goalkeeper who remains in a serious condition in hospital in Seville.
“The most important thing was the tribute to Sergio (Rico),” said Kylian Mbappe, speaking to Canal+ at full-time. “We were already champions. We could have lost 22-0; it wouldn’t have changed anything for us. We are all affected. It worried us all week. We wanted to pay tribute to him as best we could.”
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A poor result and performance would have its mitigation, then. But as a conclusion to this season, a home defeat by Clermont Foot was also fitting.
The game followed the same trajectory as their campaign, which was divided by a strong start and post-World Cup slump. Against Clermont, PSG took a 2-0 lead, and proceeded to throw it away. The defeat was their fourth at home from their last six games, and the club’s 10th in all competitions in 2023. They have conceded 24 goals at home this season in Ligue 1, their highest tally since the 28 shipped in 1984-85.
There is no question that significant change is needed to revitalise the PSG project.
Some of that has started already. Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi — to differing reactions from the home crowd — signed off on their stays in Paris. The head coach, Christophe Galtier, may depart too even if the club’s sporting advisor, Luis Campos, said pre-match that a decision had not yet been taken on his future.
But defeat only underlined that this needs to be a page-turning summer for the club. They have much to resolve.
Changes in the dugout
Galtier essentially denied after the game that he had been told that Clermont will be his last game in charge, but it does feel like the writing is on the wall.
“This morning my phone vibrated a lot, I read information in the newspaper L’Equipe (who reported that his exit had been conveyed to him). I did not have any exchanges with my president but I did with Luis Campos concerning this information,” he said. “I was told nothing about my future.
“I know that I will have a normal meeting to take stock with my sports management. My analysis will be reserved for my management and my president when we have a meeting.”
Galtier has been dealt a tough hand at PSG. His season started strongly, with the team gliding through 23 matches unbeaten, before being derailed by the impact of the World Cup. Injuries further exposed poor squad building, leaving him with a group that was ill-equipped to face the crucial stages of the Champions League.
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But he also faces questions too. The team performed below expectations considering their firepower, while he was unable to re-motivate the group amid a run of inconsistent performances as the season drew to a close. Tactically, he struggled to find the right formula to get the best out of his squad and he was rigid, too, with his system. He stuck with Messi and Mbappe as a front two without a No 9 for long periods, as well as with a back three — such as during the Bayern tie despite the deluge of injuries that had reduced his options severely.
He was whistled at the Parc des Princes on Saturday night, and a refresh in the dugout would be welcomed by supporters.
There are options for a change in direction; Luis Enrique and Julian Nagelsmann are available, while Jose Mourinho, a coach who retains good relations with Luis Campos and whose ego may just be able to dominate the dressing room at PSG, has been frequently linked. But PSG are not the only club fishing in this pond this summer, so acting decisively could be important amid a raft of other necessary changes.
Shift the loanees
According to Transfermrkt, PSG have seen 17 players head out on loan this season and, worryingly, a majority are set to return.
One has already confirmed his permanent departure, young forward Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe, who will sign for Eintracht Frankfurt after the German club exercised their option to buy clause. Mauro Icardi at Galatasaray, Colin Dagba at Strasbourg, and Edouard Michut at Sunderland are also likely to have suitors, even if they do not sign for the club to whom they were loaned this season.
The rest are not so straightforward. Abdou Diallo has suffered knee issues at RB Leipzig and made only five Bundesliga starts. Julian Draxler has had ankle surgery and made no impact at Benfica. Leandro Paredes is unlikely to be retained by Juventus, even if he wishes to stay. Layvin Kurzawa suffered a knee injury at Fulham and only featured in cup games, while Georginio Wijnaldum suffered a nightmare start to his loan at Roma after he broke his leg in training and only returned for the final few months. Keylor Navas, who avoided injury, is due to return from Nottingham Forest.
None of the contracts for those players expire this summer, which leaves a burden on PSG’s wage bill. Financial fair play requirements have hindered the club and while it will help to shift the salaries of Messi and Ramos, retaining players that are unwanted will only inhibit the extent of change this summer.
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Rebuild the defence
Despite the tide of players who are due to return from loans, PSG’s squad has been too thin this season.
Galtier has regularly fielded two goalkeepers on the substitutes’ bench and, against Strasbourg last week, he only named six of a possible nine replacements. Only one, Carlos Soler, was an established outfield, senior player.
Defence is the area that needs the most work. Options are already limited, with Presnel Kimpembe out until the end of the year with a ruptured Achilles and Nordi Mukiele still sidelined after hamstring surgery. But they will be even more restricted after Ramos’s exit. The Spanish defender’s performances merited another season, but the club’s decision to let him go, at 37, means more bodies are needed.
At the moment, 18-year-old El Chadaille Bitshiabu is playing earlier than anticipated, and that has left him exposed.
Captain Marquinhos has extended his contract, while Milan Skriniar will sign on a free from Inter. But more will be needed — otherwise another season will be handicapped by poor squad-building.
Find a No 9
This is integral. PSG signed Hugo Ekitike last summer from Stade de Reims, initially on loan but with a reported obligation to buy for €35million (£30.2m; $37.5m). The striker had enjoyed only one breakout season before signing, scoring 10 goals from 24 league games, and that inexperience has shown this season at PSG. The club still feels too big for the 20-year-old.
Yet, while he has only scored three goals in Ligue 1, PSG have looked like a much more balanced team when he is on the pitch.
Galtier, particularly in the absence of Neymar, has tried to deploy both Messi and Mbappe as forwards in a 3-5-2 system, yet neither player approaches the game as a No 9. Mbappe drifts wide to the left, while Messi drops deep into midfield. The team have adapted tactically through rotations, but it is limiting and performances have underwhelmed as a result.
Finding an elite-level forward for their star players to play off will hugely benefit PSG, and it needs to be a summer priority.
Replace Messi’s influence
Messi’s departure from PSG brings to a close a relationship that had become strained, but his transfer was not a complete failure. Indeed, assessed as a business transaction, most of the parties involved secured what they set out to achieve.
On the field is where criticism has been laid but, even amid tactical quandaries and poorer results, Messi’s influence has still been huge. His first season was one of adaptation, but he still leaves PSG with 32 goals and 35 assists to his name. There were 41 goal involvements in all competitions this season alone.
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Replacing those numbers will be very difficult.
Mbappe is a player who has thrived off Messi’s service and others will need to step up to the mark. Marco Asensio is set to join from Real Madrid after one of his best seasons in terms of goal involvements (15 from 30 games in La Liga), but he will not be able to plug the gap on his own.
Build a project for Mbappe to embrace
PSG have insisted that they are aiming to build around Mbappe this summer with younger French talent. But saying that is one thing. Accomplishing it effectively is quite another.
Mbappe is the leading light of the project now. The France captain is surely the world’s best player, while Neymar’s star has faded — the club would like to move him if they could — and Messi has now exited stage left.
Mbappe has one year remaining on his contract and, if PSG have any hope whatsoever of ensuring he stays for longer, they need to radically improve the project. That starts with how they operate in this transfer market, particularly after the acknowledged failings of last year. Resetting may well be the way the club can persuade Mbappe to stick around.
Reconnect with the supporters
Disillusionment has set in at Parc des Princes for some supporters, leading to protests by the ultras and whistles in the stadium for Messi and others.
The images after the trophy lift on Saturday told their own story. Messi and Neymar, two players who were not given warm ovations by all in the ground, headed straight for the tunnel before the lap of honour, while fans filtered out once the bright lights and fireworks of the trophy presentation had subsided.
The connection between the players and the supporters has become strained, particularly after such a poor start to 2023. Fans are struggling to connect with their team, which has felt geared more towards stars and their marketing potential than constructing an effective football collective.
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The dismal home form has not helped matters either, and this has clouded what should be a historic moment for PSG, having secured a record 11th league title.
Rebuilding that relationship with the fans, and ensuring everyone is pulling in one direction, will be essential if PSG are to rediscover more positivity going forward.
(Top photo: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
