Paris Saint-Germain’s bizarre season was perhaps summed up perfectly on Wednesday night at the Stade du Moustoir.
In a dull Ligue 1 clash with Lorient, Mauricio Pochettino’s side were held to a 1-1 draw in a game that did little to suggest that the Parisian giants were firing on all cylinders.
Yet rather than Mauro Icardi’s last-minute goal or the home side’s impressive point from the match, international viewers were drawn to the French league for all the wrong reasons when one of PSG’s stars made a complete full of himself.
Sergio Ramos, in only his second league appearance of the game, was brought on at half time and lasted just 41 minutes before walking back off the pitch after receiving his second yellow card.
While the former Spain and Real Madrid captain is somewhat notorious for his ability to collect cards, Ramos’ performance did a good job of encapsulating PSG’s stuttering season. A number of stars arrived at the club in the summer to take the club to the next level, but have instead turned the French giants into a laughing stock.
PSG’s silly season of summer signings
Back at the start of the season, PSG were praised across the world for their fantastic summer business.
Lionel Messi had arrived from Barcelona, Ramos from Madrid, while Georginio Wijnaldumm and Gianluigi Donnarumma had also made the move to Paris from Liverpool and Milan respectively. All, remarkably on free transfers.
However, to date, none of the four stars has really made a great impression on Pochettino’s team.
Ramos’ contributions have already been noted, but it’s worth bearing in mind that Wijnaldum has struggled to nail down a starting spot in the side and Donnarumma has made just eight starts from the first 19 league games of the season.
Messi, unquestionably, was signed to take PSG to the next level, but with just one goal and five assists in his first 11 league games, it’s hard to truly believe that the Argentina international is taking his new job all that seriously.
Perhaps the only summer signing that does seem to be doing well is right wing-back Achraf Hakimi, who already has three goals and three assists in 18 Ligue 1 games this season. Which may be down to the simple fact that he was the only signing made in the summer that was actually needed.
PSG will still walk to another Ligue 1 title and they may yet get their house in order to challenge for the Champions League, but as things stand these new high-profile additions seem to be less of a bonus for Pochettino and far more of a burden.