All is not well at the Parc des Princes as a nasty dose of déjà vu has hit Paris Saint-Germain, dumped out of the Champions League by FC Bayern, on Wednesday night.
It wasn’t a pretty sight for PSG fans in Munich as the Bundesliga champions soaked up the pressure and then struck twice to run out 3-0 aggregate winners.
And the early exit started the inevitable media frenzy around the future of the current head coach, Christophe Galtier. He was under pressure earlier in the campaign after the Parisiens made a slow start, and now he’s under the microscope again.
The richest club in Ligue 1 has said he is safe for now despite missing the club’s number one target, but the reports that he was losing influence at the club as early as November seem ominous.
And the day after defeat to Bayern Munich the French media reported that the club was considering a withdrawal of their contract offer to Lionel Messi, partly as a consequence of fan pressure. The frustrated PSG supporters have watched their Argentine magician lift the World Cup and they hoped he’d bring glory to their door, but it simply hasn’t happened.
The club had offered the Argentine an extension but it is now, apparently, under serious consideration.
PSG are expected to win Ligue 1 every year, but the Champions League is a prize that evades them. This was the fifth season in seven in which they dropped out of Europe’s elite competition at the first knockout stage and that simply isn’t good enough.
The closest they came was in 2020 when they reached the final only to be beaten by FC Bayern.
The Qatari owners may well think it’s time for a reset and Brazilian star Neymar is sure to be on his way, but the man who nailed his colours to the PSG mast last year, Kylian Mbappe, looks almost certain to stay.
Mbappe was on his way to Real Madrid at one point, but he made a spectacular u-turn at the 11th hour, so it would be odd if he were to jump ship now.
The France star was quick to speak after his clubs European exit, insisting that it did not affect his future at the club and he was now fully focused on winning the league.
Maybe Mbappe is happy to stay if Messi and Neymar say goodbye.
In the aftermath of defeat Mbappe said: “I’m calm, the only thing that matters to me this season is winning the championship and then we’ll see.”
The Ligue 1 2023 betting odds suggest he need not worry too much about missing out on league glory. We’ll pick up this story again soon I guess.
Lille ready to make a move
Galtier famously led Lille to the 2021 Ligue 1 title and, in other Ligue 1 2023 news, his old club is beginning to look likely to challenge for a top four place.
Lille, now managed by Paul Fonseca, are up to sixth and have suffered just one defeat in the last seven games, a 4-3 reversal to PSG. They were 3-2 up in that game with three minutes to go, but a late strike from Mbappe and a 95th minute penalty converted by Messi robbed Lille of a result.
It’s been a good turnaround for the club which was booed by its own fans when they failed to beat Reims in January, but they won their supporters back with a 5-1 drubbing of Troyes.
Now just six points behind AS Monaco in third, Fonseca’s men still have Europe in their sights.
Star striker Jonathan David is back to his best form and has scored 16 goals so far this season alongside Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder and just two goals behind Golden Boot leader Mbappe. And summer signing Remy Cabella has been in outstanding form and is one of the best creative midfielders in the league.
The club kept faith with Fonseca when times were not so good, and now they might just reap the benefits of their loyalty.
This weekend’s big games
Lille open the action on Friday when they host Lyon on Friday night and are at SBOTOP odds of 1.92 to get a win.
On Saturday, Brest, down in 15th are at home to PSG with the champions at 1.36 to win and Auxerre who are also in relegation trouble, entertain fifth-placed Rennes who are priced at 1.97 for the win.
The big fixture on Sunday is in Monaco where Reims are the visitors with the hosts, currently third, favourites at 1.81 to win. Second-placed Marseilles are hot favourites to beat Strasbourg at odds of 1.42.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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