Tuesday’s 1-1 Champions League draw between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal yielded two story lines which have gone on to dominate this morning’s headlines. It’s just a matter of perspective: either David Ospina, selected to start over normal Arsenal No. 1 Petr Cech, earned Arsenal a point, or PSG striker Edinson Cavani squandered all three for the home side.
Having warded off interest from Barcelona and Sevilla to sign a rejuvenated Hatem Ben Arfa, Paris Saint-Germain appeared to be the perfect destination for the mercurial 29-year-old playmaker. Ben Arfa signed for PSG as a free agent after experiencing a renaissance last year with Nice, tallying 17 goals and six assists in Ligue 1.
This all, of course, followed a tumultuous four years in England where he was part footballing genius, part disinterested delinquent.
It’s all done and dusted with Neymar penning an improved deal to keep him at Barcelona until 2021, but just imagine what could’ve been. According to Neymar’s agent, Wagner Ribeiro, the 24-year-old Brazilian captain came exceptionally close to joining either Manchester United or PSG over the summer.
We're always on the hunt for the next big thing in football. Whether it's on the basis of some short clip highlighting an up-and-coming 13-year-old or two or three good league games, we're quick to declare a player the next big thing. However, these three individuals, all age 21 or younger, have been consistently performing for a while now. There skills are undoubted and they've got the quality to become the next great players in world football.
It’s the kind of scoreline out of France that we’d forgotten was even possible: Paris Saint-Germain, winners of Ligue 1 for four consecutive years now, were comprehensively beaten 3-1 by AS Monaco. It’s only the third match of the French league season, and it was Paris’ first loss, but the manner in which they succumbed to defeat was frighteningly sluggish.
Once again, Edinson Cavani struggled to impress in the limelight. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s departure to Manchester United has put Cavani in the position of having to effectively replace the Swede. It's not going well.
It doesn’t get anymore ridiculous than this. Stephane Sessegnon, a Benin international currently without a club, was at his brilliant best as a winger during his time with Paris Saint-Germain from 2008-2011. Coming up against Sporting Lisbon, he demonstrated just how brutal he could be on the outside.
When we use euphemisms like “broke his ankles” or “ruined the defender” as journalists, we’re usually delving into sensational hyperbole. The reality of the video is nowhere near the description.
Could this be the season someone in France knocks PSG off their perch? The Parisiens have dominated Ligue 1 in recent years, but, after losing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, PSG might be ripe for the picking. Maybe they'll falter and allow someone to challenge or even beat the team that won Ligue 1 by 24 points last season.
Lol nope.
OLE! Fantastic Goal Alert! Thomas Menuier silenced the Spanish fans as he took a poor pass out of the back from Real Madrid and TRULY made them pay the ultimate price. The price happened to be a upper ninety shifting laser off of his left boot. Real Madrid missing most of their starters for this International Champions Cup were put to bed after being down 3-0 40 minutes into their match against PSG. Although it still is preseason could PSG still be a team to make a solid UCL run without Zlatan? I guess we will find out! Which goal was better, PSG's 1-0 or this one? You decide!
The Unai Emery era is underway at PSG after the Parisians played their first friendly of the season, against West Brom. The first goal of Emery's tenure came from a very appropriate source, the consensus best offensive center back in the world: David Luiz. Bang.
Fair play to David Luiz for not changing his ways. Here he is scoring an OG vs West Brom yesterday. pic.twitter.com/y8PNlrLOdW