A Big Relief for PSG
Paris Saint-Germain no longer had room for error. And they got a breath of fresh air. Virtually eliminated from the Champions League before their match against RB Salzburg, the Parisian club revitalized their qualification hopes with a convincing and logical 3-0 win on Austrian soil in Matchday 6. With three losses and a draw in the competition, PSG is back in the race, now occupying the 24th provisional spot in the group with seven points, keeping their hopes of European spring alive.
Not only did Luis Enrique's men revive their Champions League campaign before facing a completely different caliber opponent, Manchester City, in January, but they also ended the offensive inefficiency that had started to weigh down the team's morale. Especially that of Bradley Barcola, who was named Man of the Match by UEFA. "I think this will make a difference. We were struggling in front of goal in recent games. Scoring three goals away from home today is really good, and I hope it continues," said the French winger, who impressed with some brilliant individual moments but failed to find the back of the net.
"It's a shame, I'm still missing that little thing to score that goal and get my confidence back in front of the goal. But I keep working," explained Barcola, who also mentioned that doubts had started creeping into some players' minds. "It wasn't a block, but we were asking a lot of questions. Today, when we play without questioning anything and giving it our all, it allows us to win matches like this." Meanwhile, Lucas Hernández, who only played the final moments in this dominant victory for PSG, was relieved to return to competition after more than seven months away due to injury.
"It's a pleasure, it's an honor to be back on the field. When you suffer an injury like that, it's never easy. Mentally, from the first day after my surgery, I knew I would come back quickly and stronger," said the French full-back. Hernández emphasized how crucial this victory was for PSG’s European future. "It was very important to come here and get the win. We're keeping the positive, I hope this is the start of a long journey in the Champions League. We've been talking a lot about efficiency lately, but we are working on that. Today (last night), we scored three, but we could have scored more… There is relief, of course, we knew this would be almost a decisive match for us. We couldn’t afford to slip up." Now, PSG must keep up the momentum against Manchester City after the holidays to avoid slipping back into the red zone.
