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Young Barcola headlines PSG reboot

ByDhiman Sarkar 
Jan 23, 2025 11:09 PM IST

PSG rallied to defeat Manchester City 3-2, exposing City's defensive frailties, while Barcola shone in a crucial Champions League clash.

Kolkata: So, it has come to this. Pep Guardiola who craves for control saw his team cede it again. Sporting Lisbon, Brighton, Tottenham Hotspur, Feyenoord, Manchester United and now Paris St Germain (PSG), Manchester City continue to ship goals in clusters. Their inability to protect a lead is now as familiar as it was far-fetched not long ago.

Bradley Barcola scored one goal and set up another for France teammate Ousmane Dembélé against Manchester City on Wednesday. (REUTERS) PREMIUM
Bradley Barcola scored one goal and set up another for France teammate Ousmane Dembélé against Manchester City on Wednesday. (REUTERS)

Guardiola and Luis Enrique go back a long way. Enrique has said he thinks Guardiola has invented the perfect model for attacking football. Guardiola spoke about his friendship with the PSG boss before this Champions League tie, saying he and his former Spain and Barcelona mate would always be there for each other. But for 90 minutes, the City manager said he hoped PSG would be hopeless.

Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland scoring within three minutes of each other after a first half where City had 36% possession, the least in over five years, would have meant just that for PSG. Recent history has had them losing leads and ties in Europe Add to that a Champions League final. PSG don’t do comebacks well; they hadn’t erased a two-goal deficit, as per Opta, since 2012.

But Wednesday was different. PSG smothered City with their response overrunning them in the midfield. Fabian Ruiz would often be the extra man in the middle City couldn’t deal with. Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola got them level before Joao Navas and Gonçalo Ramos made it a memorable night for Parisians.

The lack of a holding midfielder is now a problem common to both sides of Manchester after Rodri was fit enough to only be in the stands at Parc des Princes. City’s night was made worse by Matteo Kovačić having an ordinary game, Kevin De Bruyne possibly not fit for 90 minutes and Ilkay Guendogan’s inability to reproduce his old City form.

“They were quicker, faster, they win the duels, we could not cope,” said Guardiola. City can still make the play-off round by beating Clube Brugge and Guardiola has said they don’t deserve to qualify if they cannot do that.

Like against Bayern Munich, Enrique had opted for a false nine instead of starting with Ramos. Dembele’s red card had spoilt plans then. Against City, he tried the same approach, albeit with Désiré Doue, 19, instead of Dembele who was a second-half substitute.

From the off, PSG channelled more attacks through Barcola. It meant City’s centre backs were dragged to one side and Silva forced to drop deep. Barcola, 22, was involved in a PSG goal ruled out for off-side late in the first half.

For PSG’s first goal, Barcola pirouetted past Nunes after latching on to a pass from Ruiz. Barcola’s run sucked Josko Gvardiol into leaving Dembele and trying to close him as Kovačić wasn’t able to keep up.

Dembele’s goal roused PSG and Barcola cut in and dragged a shot wide. It was 2-2 when Nuno Mendes rocked the horizontal and Barcola sent the rebound back the way it had come. He has 11 goals and three assists in Ligue 1 but his first goal and assist of the Champions League season came in the seventh match. In four minutes, Barcola had helped wipe out the lead and every anxiety that had been part of City’s game since last October resurfaced. Barcola had a passing accuracy of 92%, won half of his six ground duels and had created one big chance apart from a goal and an assist.

Barcola running the left side led to Guardiola shuffling and changing the back line. It had little effect and Barcola had a shot going out, off Haaland. Then, Dembele nutmegged Silva and rattled the framework. It fit that when Neves, 20, headed PSG’s third he was unmarked at the far post. In the lead, PSG didn’t try to manage the game, Navas pulling up Silva was proof of how keen they were to get on with it. Before Ramos scored, he had forced a save from Ederson as had Dembele earlier. “To defend the result, you have to keep the ball, we didn’t have it,” said Guardiola.

As signs of an early exit from Europe loomed large, Enrique had asked for time. PSG were rebuilding, from the “flash bling” era of Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr, Kylian Mbappe and Sergio Ramos. Early days yet but headlined by Barcola, whose numbers in terms of chance creation and completed dribbles after the first 1200 minutes compare favourably with Mbappe, a new project at PSG is taking shape.

“This game will strengthen my team. We are a young side, but we showed that we are ready to compete and that they will not give up ever,” said Enrique. “We will be a very difficult opponent for whoever we come up against.”

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