Former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi has run the rule over his former club as the Ligue1 giants embark on another season in the Champions League where they hope their riches can make the difference in helping the capital side secure their first-ever tournament win.
The 35-year-old Toulouse-born player, who spent six seasons with PSG while earning 86 caps for France across the entirety of his career, has made known his feeling on the club’s chances in Europe and why they have yet to stand tallest on the continent regardless of the star power they continue to bring to bear.
Matuidi 💬 : “Pour que le PSG gagne la Ligue des Champions, il manque cette ‘faim’ supplémentaire. Le talent, ils l’ont. Le talent ne suffit pas, ils ont besoin d’un groupe uni, qui est capable de se battre les uns pour les autres et d’aller au combat.” ❤💙
(beIN Sports) pic.twitter.com/vK73bjUzzm
— Footballogue (@Footballogue) November 8, 2022
“For PSG to win the Champions League, they lack that extra ‘hunger’. Talent, they have it. Talent is not enough, they need a united group, which is capable to fight for each other and go to battle” Matuidi said, and it is hard to argue with the former midfielder after regular frustrations on and off the pitch continue to hamper the club in a big way.
Despite having – on paper – one of the best squads in Europe which so happens to be headlined by a front-three that few could ever match in the vein of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, and Neymar, PSG’s dominance on the home front has yet to be translated to their continental campaigns against the best that Europe has to offer.
The current 2022-23 campaign is a prime example, where PSG was unable to top their group during the group stage of the competition and will now face a potential early exit in the round of 16 against what could be an opponent of the stature of Manchester City, Bayern Munich, or Real Madrid.
Regularly reported issues on and off the pitch involving Mbappé and Neymar have been at the forefront of criticism this season, but the drama is nothing new to the Parisian outfit, who some have said player power reigns supreme in the French capital and has been the cause of managers to be jettisoned despite results, with both Unai Emery and Thomas Tuchel coming to mind.
Should PSG fail to win football’s top club honor in Europe despite bringing in Messi, Nuno Mendes, Fabián Ruiz, Vitinha, Renato Sanches, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi, Sergio Ramos, Danilo Pereira, and Nordi Mukiele in the last two years while adding them to an already impressive senior setup, it just might be time for the club to realize that it will take more than buying a patchwork of top players to bring Europe to heel.
