Paris Saint-Germain has enjoyed a successful last 24 hours with the signing of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli followed by a 2-1 win at RC Lens to open up a provisional 10-point lead at the top of Ligue 1. Ahead of Wednesday’s crucial UEFA Champions League match against Manchester City at the Parc des Princes, was an ideal way to prepare Luis Enrique’s Parisians, as they came back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 with their new Georgian star providing an immediate, albeit indirect, impact.
Bradley Barcola will compete with Kvaratskhelia for supremacy on the left wing with one of the two possibly eventually switching to the false nine, which remains PSG’s preferred attacking approach despite Gonçalo Ramos’ return to fitness. The French international was able to respond immediately to his new positional rival, given that the Crusaders international was unable to make his debut immediately after his departure from Napoli, which became official late on Friday.
Barcola and his Parisian teammates did not make it easy for them, M’Bala Nzola scored the first goal from a corner to punish Luis Enrique’s men for not being tight enough defensively and only an offside and a determined Gianluigi Donnarumma prevented him from putting 2-0. The hosts’ inability to double their lead proved costly, as the first of Barcola’s two goals on Saturday came when he set up Fabián Ruiz to tie the score. game time and prepare a very different last 30 minutes.
The former Olympique Lyonnais player scored a convincing late winner with his first Ligue 1 goal since early November, in addition to his assist and midweek goal in the Coupe de France victory over the minnows Espaly. Barcola suddenly has some form and momentum under his belt again after spending the last few months looking somewhat lost and the timing couldn’t be better for Luis Enrique, who now has another quality attacking element at his disposal.
“We’re happy,” Barcola said after the game. “We started well, but we were a little depressed after conceding the goal. We lost motivation at half-time, so we are happy with the result. We know we worked very hard here to score those two goals. I am happy to have scored my goal and to feel good again. But now there are no doubts, we are going to prepare well and work to be ready for City.”
“Kvaradona” will not be available against City in the UCL next week, but his arrival has clearly shaken up the Frenchman enough to spark his early season form, which sees him lead the Ligue 1 scoring charts alongside Jonathan David from Lille OSC and Mason Greenwood from Olympique de Marseille. . Ousmane Dembélé, who is not far behind the prolific trio with 10 goals of his own, did not travel to Lens as he was allowed to recover from his minor injury ahead of the clash with Pep Guardiola’s English Premier League giants in the capital. next week.
The fact that Barcola steps forward in the absence of his compatriot, but also shows that he is hungry to accept the challenge of occupying a regular place in the starting eleven, bodes well for a decisive run of games for Les Parisiens against VfB Stuttgart in the last match of the league phase of the Champions League. . Kvaratskhelia will be available for PSG after the point, but the bigger question is whether Paris will still be represented in this year’s edition given their current precarious position, but Barcola is at least ready to be part of the effort to recover from that slow start based on this. rebound in form.