JAKARTA - Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) did win 3-0 when they visited RB Salzburg headquarters in the Champions League, Wednesday, December 11, 2024, early morning WIB.
However, PSG's position in the 2024/2025 Champions League standings is still not safe to qualify for the round of 16.
They started the trip badly and now only have seven points from six matches (two wins, one draw, and three losses).
Les Parisiens are now ranked 24th, the last position in the knockout phase of the playoffs.
There are still two remaining matches, but the opponents are not kidding, namely Manchester City and VfB Stuttgart, which will be held in January 2025.
PSG manager Luis Enrique insists that they should improve their performance if they want to stay in Europe's biggest tournament.
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"Football is a sport that is quite unfair, the classification is quite tight, one goal can make a difference."
"We still have two important games ahead. We can still be eliminated," said the manager.
"Ini bukan pertandingan yang lebih baik dari melawan PSV (Eindhoven) atau Atletico Madrid."
"I'd even say it's worse, but that's football. We know we have to improve our abilities and the squad hasn't changed much."
"We need points and will try to win the next game," Enrique said again.
Ligue 1 leaders 2024/2025 had a bad start to the Champions League campaign. They lost to Arsenal (0-2), Atletico Madrid (1-2), and Bayern Munich (0-1).
Then, they drew against PSV (1-1) and narrowly won in the group stage opener against Girona (1-0).
The 3-0 win against Salzburg is not enough for Enrique. They seem to have problems with finishing.
PSG looked sharp in the first half and almost scored from the start through Lee Kang-in's long-range shot and Vitinha's shot which was parried by goalkeeper Alexander Schlager.
Bradley Barcola also came close to scoring as he broke into the opponent's defensive area after running very well, but was unable to finish it.
"I lost a little bit of small things in front of goal that would free me. Don't think it's an obstacle, but we talked a lot about it among ourselves. I have to keep working hard," Barcola said.
Les Parisiens only opened the scoring after half an hour. Goncalo Ramos managed to take advantage of Achraf Hakimi's pass.
Nuno Mendes was then able to make the advantage move away in the 70th minute, before closing the last minute goal from Desire Doue.
On the positive side, there was an important role for Nuno Mendes in that victory. In addition, defender Lucas Hernandez has also returned to the field after a long-term injury.
"Nuno brings another solution for its physical quality and technique. It can complete the triangle behind and play ahead."
"He plays higher at the moment. He brings a lot of things in attack. However, that can change," said the manager.
This positive thing will continue to be maintained by Enrique to achieve the target of qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League with two games remaining.
It remains now how the Spanish manager fixes the shortcomings in terms of finishing so that it doesn't become an obstacle when he meets Manchester City on January 22, 2025 and VfB Stuttgart seven days later.
"We don't have the number of points we should have scored tonight because for one goal, you can be knocked out of the Champions League."
"We have to have a game after game, now there is Manchester City," he said.
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