Five Paris Saint-Germain players have been hit with a brutal 3/10 rating by L’Equipe in a withering assessment of their 2-0 Champions League defeat by Arsenal.
First-half goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka handed Mikel Arteta’s side their first victory in the new-look competition with the Ligue 1 giants roundly beaten.
Nuno Mendes and Joao Neves both struck the woodwork on either side of the break but Arsenal’s dominant performance in the opening 45 minutes proved enough to condemn PSG to a limp setback and a scathing set of headlines the morning after.
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was accused of being at fault for both goals and he has been hit with a 3/10 mark alongside almost half of the starting XI.
Havertz ghosted between two PSG defenders to head home but Donnarumma has been criticised for failing to take command of his box and catch the teasing cross.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was one of five PSG players rated 3/10 after their defeat by Arsenal
Kai Havertz beat Donnarumma to a cross to score the first before Bukayo Saka got the second
L’Equipe delivered a withering verdict on the displays of almost half of PSG’s starting XI
Saka’s goal came from a free-kick, his delivery bouncing through a crowd of bodies before beating the Italian stopper and nestling in the back of the net.
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‘Can Paris really have such high ambitions with a goalkeeper who makes so many mistakes in the Champions League?’ L’Equipe have asked.
‘Guilty of not going out within his six meters on the first goal (20th), the Italian was less at fault on the second but just as passive (35th).’
Full back Nuno Mendes is also among those given a rating of just three with the publication declaring his first-half display was ‘nightmarish’ after he was ‘tortured’ by Saka. However, he has been partially credited with helping PSG escape any further damage.
L’Equipe have also dug out Vitinha for ‘not existing’ after making his return.
‘He could not impose tempo because too often he was dominated in duels by the intensity of Arsenal,’ the ruthless outlet have added.
Donnarumma was partly culpable after Saka’s free-kick bounded through a crowd of bodies
Midfielder Vitinha was also among those rated just 3/10 and has been accused of ‘not existing’
Desire Doue, Bradley Barcola and Nuno Mendes were the other PSG stars hit with a poor mark
They have also declared he showed ‘his limits at this level of commitment’.
Promising youngsters Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola were also given a 3/10 with both players making ‘little or no difference’ at the Emirates.
Boss Luis Enrique did not escape either, L’Equipe giving him a three and taking aim at comments in which he declared his side had faced a step up in quality.
‘I can’t properly evaluate the level of our team, we will have to wait until the end of the season,’ Enrique admitted post-match.
‘This was our first big rival at a higher level. We knew from the first minute they would press us high and they did it aggressively and we couldn’t cope with that.
Arsenal picked up their first victory in the Champions League after a dominant first 45 minutes
‘Mikel (Arteta) has been there for five years, I’ve been at Paris for one year and two months. I don’t know where we are. I have a clear idea where I want us to be but I don’t know how much time I will need.’
L’Equipe were far kinder to Arsenal after they moved on to four points from their first two games with Saka and Havertz both given a 7/10 after impressing.
Despite the outlet’s hard-to-impress reputation, six players scored a six while only Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Thomas Partey dropped down to a five rating.
