PSG have lost all swagger, but Lewis has Guardiola purring — Champions League debrief


Welcome to The Champions League debrief, where Jack Lang takes you through the big talking points — and things you may have missed — from the second round of matches. This morning, the focus is on Paris Saint-Germain’s collapse on Tyneside, Rico Lewis earning high praise from Pep Guardiola, and a couple of Chelsea old boys showing they still have what it takes…

Plus ca change pour le PSG…

Close your eyes for a moment. Consider a city that exudes opulence. Consider a football club with no genuine local competitors and one of the world's most talented talent pools right on their doorstep. Imagine that club has nearly limitless financial resources. Be a member of that club. Feel the money's cold, elemental strength, its reason. Pay attention to the throb. Consider where it will lead you. Consider the glory. Feel it. It is no less delicious because it is unavoidable.


Now... hold on. Wait. This... this was not on our mental itinerary. The sun is setting. It is presently hidden by large, billowing, ominous clouds. Anguish and pain. Incomparable agony. And now, spectral in the gloom, some new pictures dance across the infinite grey. Dan Burn (Wait, what?). Sean Longstaff (who is he?). Your yearly low point. Huh. This year, early.

Enter the darkness. It's quite warm there.



Yes, it's the Schadenfreude Roadshow, aka Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. We'll get to the specifics of Wednesday night's disasterclass shortly, but first listen to the background music. And no, you weren't dreaming: this time was meant to be a little different.


Luis Enrique is a proper manager, a step up from Christophe Galtier in almost every way. He spent the summer supervising the mother of all squad purges. Lionel Messi, Neymar, Marco Verratti, Sergio Ramos, Leandro Paredes, Renato Sanches, Georginio Wijnaldum, and the Julian Draxler performance-art project all left. Their replacements were younger and more zealous. Ousmane Dembele and Randal Kolo Muani are also more Parisian. It seemed like a fresh start.
Their performance versus Newcastle was dreadful. PSG lined up in a kind of time capsule configuration, an entry-level 4-2-4 with all the sub-options set to 'clunky AF', with Luis Enrique picking all of his senior attackers. Forget passing triangles; this was a succession of rectangles with constant right angles. Kylian Mbappe had no one to collaborate with. Kolo Muani and Goncalo Ramos appeared to be fighting to see who could have the least impact on the game.