Ligue 1 week 35: OGC Nice 3-1 Paris SG
PSG probably gave up on winning a fifth consecutive Ligue 1 title after their dreams of another treble (winning the two domestic cups0 were crushed by a valiant and efficient Nice side. Balotelli added another goal to make it 14 out of 21 games played, that is one of his best season statistically while PSG finished down to 9 after Motta and Di Maria lost their temper and were sent off on straight reds.
What is next for PSG? Probably the coach Emery is out and even the president could get sacked by the Qatari ownership group. The club will be very active in the summer transfer window and player changes shall come at each line.
We hear from the defeated side:
Unai Emery (Paris Saint-Germain coach)
“Today, we dropped three points that were important. I believe the team deserved better. They worked well, but we came up against a very good Nice team. It was difficult, the second goal hurt us, we pushed, we came back and their goalkeeper put in a great performance. I think we should have had a penalty, and we didn’t manage to get back into it. It’s more difficult now, but the title is not lost. We’re going to continue working for that, to win the three matches that remain and the Coupe de France final.”
Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain defender)
“I think Nice were better. We had possession, but that doesn’t mean anything. We scored from a corner, we wanted to get back, but we weren’t able to. We wanted to win this evening to keep up the pressure on Monaco, but we didn’t manage it. Nice played well. They were aggressive on the ball, we didn’t convert our chances, we have to do better.”
Thomas Meunier (Paris Saint-Germain defender)
“I don’t know how to explain it. When you dominate so much, with more than 70% possession and a lot of chances created, we could have won it. We came up against a Nice team that played it very well. They had four clear-cut chances and scored three of them. I think we can be annoyed with ourselves as we had the opportunity to do something good. There’s the Coupe de France final, but we’re not going to give up on anything. We’ll play to the end and do our utmost to try and catch Monaco. We have had a great season with more than 80 points. Monaco and Nice were able to keep pace. That’s great for the league and it’ll help us grow too.”
This season was a disaster for the club losing probably its domestic title and being humiliated by Barcelona 6-1 in the Champions League Round of 16, below is a reminder!
