This Saturday evening, Paris Saint-Germain won 1-6 (video summary Saint-Etienne/PSG) against Saint-Etienne on Matchday 27 of Ligue 1 2024-2025 at Stade Geoffroy Guichard. Here are our top and bottom stories.
Tops –
Invincibles
Trailing 1-0, with their scrappy play and lack of energy, we feared the worst. Well, not quite. Luis Enrique’s version of PSG bears no resemblance whatsoever to its little brothers of the Pochettino and Galtier years. There are no longer any flaws in a match. All in all, Saint-Etienne played a very average 30 minutes, slightly better than an apathetic PSG. For the rest, Les Verts paid the (hefty) bill. Facing PSG in Ligue 1 today is a real nightmare. As well as playing your best game, technically and physically, you need to be sure you can do it over 90 minutes. But in this game, PSG are masters of time and space. 90 minutes is a long time, as the scoreline shows.
Willian Pacho – The “roc”
When a striker wants to take on Pacho, he has to be ready. The Ecuadorian showed once again on Saturday evening that his surprise recruitment was a masterstroke. Now indispensable, the player shows his teeth in every outing. He’s clean defensively, he’s tough, he knows how to defend going forward, perfect for Luis Enrique’s counter-pressing game, which needs defenders ready to recover the ball very quickly. Another fine performance from him.
Désiré « Neymar » Doué
No, we’re not getting carried away. Doué is no Neymar. But he looks like him. There’s a way of provoking that comes close. There’s that “killer” side to the attacking duel. This Saturday, Doué scored two goals. He’s growing in stature, and PSG, who were expecting to recruit a good player of the future, now have a great player of the present in their hands. Doué has the potential to finish the season on a high and move into another category. He’s got gold in his feet, something different.
Flops –
A catastrophic start
Saint-Etienne held their own against PSG for 35 minutes. You have to be careful. It’s not always easy to get into a game. If PSG have so much room to maneuver and still win with 6 goals to their opponents’ 1, all the other teams won’t be as defensively weak as Saint-Etienne were. For the moment, it’s enough, but it’s a warning for the Parisians, who missed almost everything in the first half-hour.
Lucas Hernandez
He’s a bit of a pain. He doesn’t run fast enough any more, he doesn’t impose himself too much in duels, we’ve seen the ravages of his injury and how difficult it is to get back to the top. Lucas Hernandez used to be a reliable defender, but he’s become a problem. So, yes, we need to give him time, but can he really get back to his best? His match was very average.
