PSG’s late failure against Atletico Madrid puts Luis Enrique under pressure as the route to the knockout rounds appears unclear

PARIS– Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid picked up a massive three points with a 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday, pushing Luis Enrique’s side out of the top 24 and securing a place in the top 24 for now . The narrow win at the Parc des Princes takes the French giants to four points from a possible 12, worsening Luis Enrique’s already unflattering win percentage against Paris and pushing Atleti into a possible knockout spot.

Warren Zaire-Emery’s opener, after being put ahead by Ousmane Dembele in the 14th minute, hinted at a high-scoring game on Wednesday, but with Nahuel Molina’s equalizer four minutes later, the scoring threat would no longer be as great , until Angel Correa won it late. Instead, it was a game marked by Simeone’s fighting spirit, which was reflected in the final result, where Jan Oblak shone with the away goal and the few home goals resulted in goals for a team that had lost its bearings since the opening day.

“I’m at a loss for words,” said Luis Enrique after the game. “I think we were infinitely superior to our opponents in the last three home games, but luck wasn’t on our side. We still have four games left and we will fight as long as we have those games in front of us. It’s difficult.” But I’ve been in football for more than 30 years and I can’t explain it. It’s just bad luck.

Where PSG will go next from here is anyone’s guess, with Bayern Munich and Red Bull Salzburg next in Europe before anyone visits the French capital next, and defeats to Arsenal and Atleti, while PSV Eindhoven lost to PSV Eindhoven plays puts the kings of Ligue 1 in trouble in a weak position. To make matters worse, Stade Brestois 29, AS Monaco and Lille OSC have all performed better than Les Parisiens, who are now lowering France’s UEFA coefficient after years of almost single-handedly maintaining it.

Paris are now on the brink of an embarrassing league stage exit, previously unthinkable, despite the fixture list looking complicated in the first draw and currently featuring a vulnerable Manchester City at home. Luis Enrique has a big task ahead of him to maintain the positive attitude that has generally kept him from being criticized, something that is likely to change following Simeone’s stunning success on French soil when PSG were expected to win.

Paris has no choice but to aim for wins against Bayern and Salzburg and wait to see where the team stands by the end of 2024. However, the current situation requires attention and shows that the current level of performance will not take them to the knockout stage. The start of 2025 isn’t much better, as City only has one home game left and a trip to VfB Stuttgart is also being planned by the end of the league phase.

It’s tempting to say that whether they can reach the knockout stages or not is now out of PSG’s hands. However, given that this is the first edition, it is still too early to say, although at least six points out of twelve are required, which is not the current quota. Should they lose to Bayern next time, the chances of Luis Enrique’s side going significantly further will understandably diminish even further, to the point that they will be among the favorites to go out and face a humiliating and unexpected early exit have to suffer.

The Spaniard can complain all he wants about being unlucky and his team creating chances, but at some point those chances have to be taken, and this is not an isolated case with PSG – it cost them a place in the final last year. Whether the return of Goncalo Ramos will solve these problems or not remains to be seen, but at the moment this Parisian team is nowhere near composed enough to hope to advance to the knockout stages, and that will be Luis Enrique until to the Bayern game later this month.