Paris Saint-Germain lost 2-0 to Arsenal on Tuesday night at Emirates Stadium, and just days later, one expert described the match as one in which men played against boys.
PSG struggled after conceding two first-half goals, with Gianluigi Donnarumma facing criticism for key mistakes. The first error came when he rushed off his line to claim a cross that didn’t seem particularly threatening, only to misjudge it and allow Kai Havertz to head home.
For the second goal, Donnarumma misjudged a Bukayo Saka free-kick. Despite the traffic in front of him, the 25-year-old attempted to punch the ball away but missed completely, allowing it to find the back of the net.
In his latest column for PSG Talk Extra Time, Football Transfer’s Robin Bairner provided his analysis. The expert noted that this matchup saw the glaring maturity of one squad compared to the other.
“Bradley Barcola, Désiré Doué, and Kang-In Lee were outmatched physically,” Bairner wrote. “It looked like men against boys in terms of the strength difference with the Arsenal defenders, yet to some extent it really was. Those extra years of putting on bulk saw the Gunners dominate the PSG attack.”
The Parisians will look for a bounce-back Champions League win on October 22 at the Parc des Princes against PSV Eindhoven.
