Ineffective and uninspiring, the intimidating PSG attack didn’t function as the fans had hoped in their first appearance together.
Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe “need time to build an understanding”, said Mauricio Pochettino explaining the Paris Saint-Germain star trio’s struggles on Wednesday night.
Messi was unable to find the target in his first start for his new club, Neymar put in a lackluster display, while Mbappe was also quiet and had to exit the pitch early in the first half due to an injury concern.
Paris Saint-Germain played out a 1-1 draw with the lowly yet authoritative Club Brugge in their Champions League opener in Bruges.
The visitors, expectedly, drew first blood when Ander Herrerra struck at minute 15. However, the hosts put in a strong collective performance while keeping the star-studded opposition at bay and managed to snatch a point from a game they were expected to lose.
“We need time to work for them to build an understanding. That’s been clear and we’ve said that in recent days. We still have to create a team,” Pochettino told post-match, per Goal.
“We know we have to improve. That’s not the problem for me.
“I’m happy with the defensive effort of the attackers. We have to be stronger in other areas of the game.
“[We] need to compete, to know each other, to understand each other, to play together to succeed with all three but that was not the problem.
“We weren’t strong enough in a Champions League match. We are not happy with the result and the performance, we know we have to do better.
“We have a magnificent group of players, we now have to find a defensive and offensive organisation. We need time.”
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