It is difficult to know where to start with Paris Saint-Germain's 3-1 home defeat by Lorient.
We could begin with the game's first goal, a passage of play that saw Lorient retaining possession for 65 seconds and pinging 25 passes, ending with Romain Faivre strolling into the PSG box to tee up Enzo Le Fee.
Or we could just go straight to this still image of a corner in the 88th minute, where 10-man PSG decide to throw every outfield player forward in pursuit of an equaliser, only to play it short and see the ball easily cleared, putting Bamba Dieng through to score the clinching third goal in the process.
The nearest defender to the PSG goal at this point? That famed exponent of track-backery Lionel Messi. Who is 80m (almost 90 yards) away from it.
Christophe Galtier, the head coach, clearly did not approve.
Such disaster-play could only be the product of PSG in 2022-23, a team who are turning 'stumbling to the title' into an art form.
Sunday was another afternoon of self-reflections, 'must-do betters' and futile words about improvement, but this has happened a few too many times now. PSG have lost nine games in all competitions in 2023, but yesterday at the Parc de Princes marked a new low — the first time they had conceded three in a home league defeat since the QSI takeover in 2011-12.
It is remarkable that Galtier's side retains a five-point lead at the top of Ligue 1.
The problems against Lorient were not new. PSG remained a team applying themselves to a limited degree, with some players appearing to consider themselves above the collective team effort. The owners' sporting advisor Luis Campos was back in the dressing room at full time and then in front of the cameras of Canal Plus, demanding a “reaction” to secure the title.
But if yesterday's soap opera applied a magnifying glass to well-known issues, then it also added some exaggerated features: PSG's star-studded cast tends to struggle out of possession with 11 players, so when asked to try to cope with one fewer than that for more than 70 minutes… let's just say it was never going to be straightforward.
Messi and Mbappe have free roles in Galtier's system – even when PSG are down to 10 (Photo: Aurelien Meunier – PSG/PSG via Getty Images)
Le Fee's opening goal on 15 minutes underlined that the home team were not playing particularly well, even before Achraf Hakimi was dismissed five minutes later for two daft yellow cards. Frequently in recent weeks, PSG have started matches without much intensity, displaying an 'On the beach' approach to their duels while hoping infrequent bursts of quality and flair will see them over the line.
Galtier made a tactical switch, moving makeshift centre-half Danilo Pereira back into midfield to create a 4-2-2-2. The idea was for PSG to have “better technical links” in the middle but, as the manager later admitted, this did not materialise.
“When there is so much technical waste at the start of the match, there's no question of freshness,” Galtier said. “It was a lack of concentration on the part of several players.”
PSG were too passive, and Lorient punished them with excellent movement and clarity of thought and process. This was defined in the build-up to the first goal as, in the final moments of that 25-pass move, Le Fee is left untracked by four possible markers…
… before scoring past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Galtier insisted that there were “too many players below their level” on the day.
“When we lose it's because either we are physically dominated or we let go mentally,” he said. “This afternoon, we let go on a mental level. We need to discuss this issue. What do we want to do with the remaining five matches? Say, 'We'll see what happens?'. There is a title to look for. But to get it, we must have another state of mind.”
Yet “mentally letting go” was not the only issue evident yesterday, particularly considering the setup after Hakimi's red card.
Post-match, Lorient coach Regis Le Bris outlined that he had wanted to target PSG's weaknesses: on the wings.
“Today, our objective was to hold the ball so that their defensive 5-3 block (five defenders, three midfielders), or 4-3 after the red card (four defenders, three midfielders), is more readable for us,” he said. “After 10, 12, 15 passes, the places where we can attack are quite clear — especially on the wings, by double-ups or dribbles on the sides of the box to reach the goal.”
Le Bris wanted his team to attack the flanks because PSG are normally outnumbered in those areas. Under Galtier, they often use a back three with wing-backs. This defence is assisted by three central midfielders in a 3-5-2 or, as on Sunday, four midfielders in a box shape with two in front (Vitinha and Carlos Soler) and two behind (Pereira and Marco Verratti). This seems like a compromise to try to get the best out of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, who have largely free roles up front without many defensive responsibilities.
In possession, this causes teams problems. Out of possession, it is not ideal for PSG as others have to cover for them.
A man down, however, and 'not ideal' becomes 'highly problematic'.
The setup did not change after Hakimi was dismissed. Neither Mbappe nor Messi curtailed their free roles. Galtier retained the two up front. This essentially left PSG with seven outfielders trying to repel Lorient when out of possession, meaning the visitors only had to commit eight players forward to guarantee themselves an overload.
Counter-attacking possibilities or otherwise, this did not look sustainable. It created huge, almost extraordinary amounts of space in the areas Lorient were hoping to target:
In that context, it was hardly a surprise that Lorient's second goal five minutes before half-time would mirror the first as they exploited an overload created on the PSG left. It was only because Lorient, 2-1 up, played far more cautiously in the second half as PSG upped their intensity in pursuit of an equaliser that this was not exploited any further.
This is a very PSG problem. One that, again, comes back to squad building and balance.
Yet here, it also posed questions of Galtier.
Why did he not move one of Messi or Mbappe into the team's defensive shape, where they could improve the balance when defending? PSG have a light squad and limited options from the bench, but their setup with 10 men yesterday was incredibly demanding on their midfielders. The alternative question to be flung at the head coach is whether he is capable of motivating a squad that continues to churn out miserable performances?
After the game, goalkeeper Donnarumma was quick to defend Galtier, arguing he had taken too much heat already. In one sense, Donnarumma is right: players can recognise problems on the field, particularly if they feel overrun. Yet none of this smacks of a team working cohesively.
Lorient celebrate victory with their fans (Photo: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
The defeat by Lorient, who climb into the top half of the Ligue 1 table with these three points, should not undermine PSG's progress to retaining the Ligue 1 trophy. They have that five-point lead over Marseille with five to play. But the mood is jarringly sombre with their title pursuit reduced to a joyless trudge.
This club is yearning for the summer — not just for the beach, but also for a rebuild and a mentality reset.