Despite boasting a roster full of A-listers,Paris Saint-Germain havestruggled to avoid humiliation in Europe for quite some time. Earlier this month, Bayern eliminated the defending French league champions with a 3-0 aggregate victory.
The Qatari owners spent a ton of money to bring in superstars like Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe, but the French team’s lackluster play has prevented them from ever winning the UEFA Champions League. Even though the Brazilian was out with an injury, theystill hadtwo of the best players in the worldat their disposal.
However, the Bavarians, led by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry, dominated the second leg against Christophe Galtier’s squad, winning 2-0 in a rout. For the second consecutive season, theRed-and-Blues were eliminated from the tournament at an early stage of the knockout round.
What didPhilipp Lahm say of PSG and their starsMessi, Mbappe, and Neymar?
Philipp Lahm of Bayern. (Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
Bayern legend Philipp Lahm has now criticized PSG’s offense after their elimination from the UEFA Champions League. The 39-year-old former defender summed up Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, and Lionel Messi’sfailure to compete in Europe’s top club tournament by calling the Paris club a ‘luxury department store’ in his column for The Guardian.
“This exorbitantly expensive team resemble a luxury department store, displaying precious exhibits that everyone marvels at but no one can afford. It guarantees high attention and spectacle, but it only works economically. Politically the strategy works but on the sporting level the team is a disappointment and the club remains a bland experience. PSG have a fundamental problem. The team play uninspired football.
“PSG can make you [opponents]sad but in Munich, you didn’t see anything of the class that this team should actually have due to their outstanding players. On one hand, it was a disappointment; on the other, it wasn’t a surprise because PSG’s early exit from the UCL happens all the time.Qatar invests millions in PSG.
“Mbappeis a story in himself. He undoubtedly has world-class skills and he grabs hold of Ligue 1 with ease but his talent is not embedded. In Munich, he was constantly waiting for the ball to fall at his feet. It is difficult to imagine how his career will blossom in Paris. Messi showed some moments of his extra class in Munich. But his abilities are being deployed without reason, goal, direction. Messi was helpless and desperate.
“So PSG have the two players who thrilled the planet in the World Cup final, plus Neymar, Brazil’s best footballer of the past decade, as well as Real Madrid’s former captain and a four-times Champions League winner, plus two current European champions.They are all among the most famous footballers in the world andhave fans andfollowers all over the globe but in two duels with Bayern nothing remotely otherworldly emerged. One can feel sorry for PSG fans. Their hope that something will grow together dies every year“, Lahm wrote.
