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“It’s both beautiful and frustrating,” says the team's head coach. The Paris Saint-Germain manager has a complicated relationship with how his team’s league matches develop. When PSG are involved, one team attacks and the other defends. “I like attacking a low block,” he insists. “This is the game situation I know best. I am very respectful of how other teams play. While it differs from our philosophy, I comprehend and embrace it.”

Facing defensive teams isn't optional for PSG; this is their regular experience, due to the quality difference created by financial imbalance. Their talent usually tells and the resistance is overcome with mixed ease. However, this campaign has been more challenging.

Game Dominance However Poor Results

The Parisians have maintained nearly three-quarters of possession in Ligue 1 so far this campaign. Against Nice on Saturday, they had dominant ball control and made over 750 passes, versus just under 200 for their opponents. By half-time, the Portuguese midfielder had 90 contacts with the ball – just six fewer than the whole Nice squad – but PSG couldn't translate superiority into goals. When the first period ended, the visiting team's defender, whose goal-bound attempt was blocked by a PSG player, had come closest to scoring.

And this game isn’t an outlier. The Parisians had tied 75% of their recent Ligue 1 games. With 71% ball control against Strasbourg, but were reliant on a late tying goal from Mayulu to secure one point. And, despite having 77% of the ball against Lorient in midweek, they found the net only once and were ultimately held to a draw. Approximately 33% of the way into the season, PSG are just fifth in scoring in Ligue 1 – after several other French clubs.

Forward Line Struggles

It is a result of the special treatment that PSG receive, but also indicates a genuine problem. Their forwards are not scoring. The French international's 29 goals last season contributed to PSG's Ligue 1 and the Champions League; Bradley Barcola scored 14 times in the league; Another offensive player hit 16 in all competitions; and The Georgian international scored several times after his January move.

Dembélé won the prestigious award and, while it is debatable that the France international is indeed the global standout, it is difficult to argue that he was not the best player of the previous term. He's managed only five goals in 12 matches this season. He experienced a thigh issue while on national team service in September, which gave rise to a dispute between PSG and the France team that has seen the connection between club and country worsen. Dembélé missed around six weeks of action as a result, but he appears below his best. Post-match against their rivals, he was seen clutching his hamstring. “The pain is intense,” he told fellow player Hakimi.

Fitness Issues

The PSG coach says their star can play to face the German giants this week in the continental tournament but, while he regains his form, squad members need to perform. Sadly, Doué is unavailable. The former Rennes forward was also sidelined in the same month. He was recovering to his best when he was affected by another thigh injury, which is expected to rule him out until the new year. The Georgian is a valuable player to his team but he often excels mainly for the big occasions in the European stage; he is goalless so far in Ligue 1 this season. Their current top scorer, PSG’s highest goal-getter in all competitions this season, has just a single strike in his last eight games and is in a fallow period. A player who scores in bursts, the scoring will surely resume, but he shouldn't be relied upon to be the goalscorer in this high-priced PSG attack.

Their center forward found the match-winner against Nice but will he keep his place in the team?

That was the job assigned to Gonçalo Ramos when he arrived in 2023. Their number nine reached the milestone of 100 matches for PSG against Nice, but he has been a substitute in the majority of those appearances. Having scored nearly half his total after entering as a replacement, he has clearly taken on the role of the “super-sub”, partially due to his ineffectiveness when selected, but primarily because of his manager’s reluctance to begin with a conventional No 9. “Why do I score so many goals off the bench? Well, simply because I come off the bench more than I start,” joked Ramos after the match.

Critical Moment

As scoring has decreased across the frontline, the match-winning strike has given his manager food for thought. The centre-forward failed to convert several opportunities before taking his fourth and winning the match, but the fact that the team's clearest openings came to him is telling. His finishing is instinctive and that is what PSG were investing in when they paid substantial money. “His role is vital for us because he is continuously available for every match, whether he starts or not,” said their coach. “Five minutes of Gonçalo on the pitch are valuable time.” Perhaps now is the opportunity for the bench specialist to play a leading part.

Domestic Competition Matches

• Rennes 4-1 Strasbourg
• Lens 3-0 Lorient
• Lille 1-0 Angers
• Nantes 0-2 Metz
• Toulouse 0-0 Le Havre
• Brest 0-0 Lyon
• PSG 1-0 Nice
• Monaco 0-1 Paris FC
• Auxerre 0-1 Marseille

League Standings

Position	Team	Played	Goal Difference	Points
1	PSG	11	12	24
2	Marseille	11	14	22
3	Lens	11	7	22
4	Lille	11	10	20
5	Monaco	11	6	20
6	Lyon	11	4	20
7	Strasbourg	11	6	19
8	Nice	11	0	17
9	Toulouse	11	2	15
10	Rennes	11	1	15
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