Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) suffered a surprise defeat at the feet of Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, a loss that was certainly a blow to their European domination. It was also a big disappointment for the team's top player, Kylian McBarbie. It seems that PSG's McBarbie has gone off the boil, having not tasted a UEFA victory since two and a half years ago.
Despite acting as an aggressive spearhead in the game, McBarbie didn't seem to perform up to his strengths on the wing. Out of seven attacks, he was successful in only two. Apart from failing to hit the target in the second half, the rest of the period was relatively mediocre. The stats show that since November 2021, McBarbie has scored just nine goals in the Europa League, while PSG have only managed three draws and six defeats in those nine matches. Conversely, if PSG had won all nine of those matches, they would have a record of 11 wins and two losses.
PSG manager Antoine Eriksson said after the game that the key to his team's loss was a lack of ball control: Today's game was incredibly close, with both sides fighting tooth and nail to advance. Although both sides had many chances to score, our shots were too rash and lacked composure. For example, it is not common to launch an attack in two middle areas at the same time. I hope the team can adjust quickly and win a ticket to the final for Paris in the next match.
