Fabián Ruiz of Paris Saint Germain attempts a kick during the Ligue 1 match between PSG and OM at Parc des Princes. (Photo by Antonio Borga/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
When you have some of the brightest football players on your side you are going to end up winning games more often than not. That is what happened last Friday when PSG traveled to Corsica to face newly promoted Ajaccio in a Ligue 1 clash that the Parisians won by a 3-0 scoreline.
Kylian Mbappe (twice) and Lionel Messi were the ones carrying the weight by scoring the game’s goals in a match in which just a handful of genius moments were the deciding factor of the matchup falling Paris side.
This was always seen as a pretty unbalanced game with the leaders of Ligue 1 facing one of the worst teams in the French league to date, and that is what in fact turned out to be the case. While Ajaccio was able to contain Paris for the first 20 minutes, the Corsican side ended up surrendering a goal to Mbappe by the 24th minute of play.
Everything went pleasurably downhill from PSG from that moment on to the point the game might have truly ended with a 6-0 final result instead of the actual 3-0.
Here are three observations about the victory against Ajaccio in Ligue 1 this past Friday and what is ahead for PSG entering next week with the return of the Champions League and a clash with Maccabi Haifa for the Parisian next Tuesday.
October 21, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>While the rest of the new pieces joining the project this past summer are still acclimating, it is most probably going to be Ruiz featuring in the bonus midfield position created by the change from the 3-4-3 (with two wing-backs and two midfielders) to the 4-3-3 (with a deep-lying playmaker and two flexible midfielders). Or is he?</p>
<p>That’s the next riddle Galtier will need to solve as he will be presented with the chance of using every returning player (center-backs Presnel Kimpembe and Sergio Ramos, defensive-midfielder/center-back Danilo, left-wing Nuno Mendes, and forward Neymar) and the alternative of discarding some of them in favor of keeping the 4-3-3 formation going with just a few changes.</p>
<p>Neymar will be going straight into Paris Saint-Germain lineups twice a week now that he’s gone through his one-game suspension – for now and unless/until PSG <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/23/3-questions-psg-ajaccio-maccabi-haifa/"https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/15/ronaldo-missing-piece-fix-psg-mbappe/">strike when the iron is hot … on Cristiano Ronaldo’s availability</a> if not someone else.</p>
<p>Kimpembe is expected to man the middle of the defensive line along with captain Marquinhos. What about veteran Sergio Ramos? Will he accept a trip back to the end of the bench? Will Danilo also be comfortable getting relegated to a reserve role after having enjoyed a starting spell during the past few games?</p>
<p>Nuno Mendes is the obvious No. 1 left-wing and there is no doubt he will be instantly thrust into the starting lineup. But will the deeper role hurt his projection forward on the attacking phase of the game?</p>
<p>A lot of first-world problems for Galtier to deal with, indeed.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/23/3-questions-psg-ajaccio-maccabi-haifa/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Will PSG finally get their tickets for the UCL Knockout Stage on Tuesday? </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-495369" src=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/23/3-questions-psg-ajaccio-maccabi-haifa/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1243235814-850x560.jpeg" alt="Neymar Jr of Paris Saint Germain during the UEFA Champions League match between Maccabi Haifa v Paris Saint Germain at the Sammy Oferstadium. (Photo by Nir Keidar/Soccrates/Getty Images)" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">Neymar Jr of Paris Saint Germain during the UEFA Champions League match against Maccabi Haifa at the Sammy Oferstadium (Photo by Nir Keidar/Soccrates/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>Will PSG finally punch ticket to UCL knockout stage Tuesday?</h3>
<p>Up next: the fifth game of the Champions League group stage facing Maccabi Haifa at the Parc des Princes. The challenge: to (once and for all) punch a ticket to the Round of 16 after failing at it for two consecutive games against Portuguese giants Benfica.</p>
<p>As was the case last Friday when PSG had to fly to Corsica in order to just spent 90 minutes on a rather-playable patch of grass, this should be another match in which the Parisian should have no problems at all in bagging three points. Key word: should.</p>
<p>Nobody would miss Maccabi for Benfica. Nobody would even miss them for, say, a very underperforming and upsetting Juventus. But Maccabi already put PSG against the wall in their first Champions League meeting a few weeks ago when they led during their home game in Israel. Also, as it happened to Ajaccio, the final scoreline got flipped in Paris favor thanks to – what else – goals by Neymar, Messi, and Mbappe hitting one each.</p>
<p>With the expectation of hosting Maccabi Haifa fans in excess of 1,500 in a parking lot exclusively reserved for them, the French police will strengthen the security system by deploying nearly 1,000 agents, <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2022/10/23/3-questions-psg-ajaccio-maccabi-haifa/"https://www.leparisien.fr/sports/football/psg/la-crainte-de-debordements-et-de-derapages-existe-pourquoi-psg-maccabi-haifa-est-un-match-a-risques-23-10-2022-JBTALH3MABE7HD4KAVPKLOLSIA.php">reports <em>Le Parisien</em></a>.</p>
<p>Paris already know what could be ahead, even though they will be inside the Parc next Tuesday instead of away in Corsica: three young fans of Lionel Messi broke the security barriers in the Stade Francois Coty at different points during last Friday’s match, causing stoppages only to greet the Argentine legend in person. Nothing happened to the player(s) involved in the situations back then, and one has to assume that will remain the case, but better safe than sorry with these issues.</p>
<p>The heat might reach higher temperatures in the streets if PSG and Maccabi fans come to meet, but that’s something for the French police to deal with. Paris is heading into a game that could decide their short- and long-term future in all competitions.</p>
<p>A win on Tuesday will have PSG looking at a rather softened end of the pre-World Cup period at least in terms of the pressure they’ll have to endure. Draw or loss and all of a sudden things will get much more complicated.</p>
<p>Benfica could overtake them in Group H, a pivotal game against Juventus will remain on the schedule for PSG with the possibility of finishing the group stage in second instead of first, and no rotations of key players will be allowed with kilometers pilling on their legs.</p>
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<p>With the return of Neymar and Ramos (Kimpembe is not expected to start against Maccabi), along with the fully-established 4-3-3, and a battle against a much lesser team, Paris might be looking at an easy week until they play Troyes (11th place in Ligue 1) next Saturday evening.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">