PSG vs Girona Player Ratings: Hosts secure victory in Champions League opener with late own goal

First-time Champions League entrants Girona faced a mighty test first up in the competition in the form of PSG. It was going perfectly well for them before a 90th-minute own goal from Paulo Gazzaniga made all their efforts go to waste.

The first half was a largely stingy affair with Girona just sitting deep and letting PSG have the ball but the French team not being able to break them down or do anything much.

As tired legs started showing up for Girona, the game opened a little more for PSG and they took shot after shot. None of it worked until the very end when Girona keeper Paulo Gazzaniga let slip a low cross into his own goal in the final minute of regulation time.

PSG Player Ratings vs Girona

Goalkeeper

M. Safonov — 6/10. Stood in for Donnarumma because of the Italian’s injury. Wasn’t called into action much. A very silent debut for the new signing.

Defenders

A. Hakimi — 6/10. Mixed outing for the RB. Was good going forward, as usual, creating the most chances. Defensively, he was very suspect and was beaten multiple times.

W. Pacho — 7/10. Good defensive presence from the youngster. Saw a lot of possession because of PSG’s on-the-ball superiority. Completed over a century of passes.

Marquinhos — 7/10. Very similar to his central defensive partner. Did a solid job in keeping and progressing the ball. Did a professional job in terms of defending.

N. Mendes – 8/10. Forced the own goal in the 90th minute. Was constantly an option in possession down the left. Locked his wing down defensively.

Midfielders

W. Zaire-Emery — 7/10. A top performance for the young midfielder. Created multiple chances and was one of PSG’s more dangerous players. Didn’t let anything go past him either.

Vitinha — 6/10. A rather silent game for the Portuguese midfielder. He is usually the one who makes things happen, but today just didn’t seem to be his day.

F. Ruiz — 6/10. One of his poorer outings. Failed to break Girona down when he had possession in dangerous areas. Very weak in duels and got bullied at times.

O. Dembele – 7/10. In a constant Hail Mary mode. Took a mind-boggling 8 shots, only two hitting the target. Also lost the most duels of anyone in this game.

B. Barcola — 5/10. The youngster has started the season on fire but this was a learning curve. Was largely lost and failed to complete any of his dribbles.

Forward

M. Asensio — 5/10. Taken off in the first half with an injury. Didn’t have the chance to do much.

Substitutions

R. Kolo Muani – 6/10. Came on in the first half for Asensio. Had some good chances but failed to make it count.

D. Doue – 6/10. The young attacker is exciting usually but failed to do much in the half an hour he played. Didn’t get the chance to do much.

J. Neves – 6/10. PSG already had most of the control when the young midfielder came on. Didn’t do much to tilt the scales.

K. Lee – 7/10. Brought some life into the PSG attack after coming on late. He troubled the tired legs of Girona.

L. Beraldo – N.A.

Manager

L. Enrique – 6/10. This happens to Luis Enrique’s teams too frequently – the opponent sits deep and his teams struggle. A thing to improve for the tactician.

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Girona Player Ratings vs PSG

Goalkeeper

P. Gazzaniga – 5/10. Undid all his team’s and his own hard work with a silly mistake leading to an own goal in the last minute. Had been great till then, making 5 saves.

Defenders

A. Martinez – 5/10. Didn’t get to show his qualities in possession as Girona didn’t have much of the ball. Made a number of defensive interventions but was beaten too easily at times.

D. Lopez – 6/10. Nothing much to write home about his performance. Was average in possession and didn’t see much of the ball. Defensively he was also right.

L. Krejci – 7/10. A good performance from the new signing. Made a good last-man tackle to save his team. Took responsibility in possession and also defended well.

M. Gutierrez – 7/10. Wasn’t at his usual best in the creative front. However, it was his defensive game that shone today. Made as many as 9 ball recoveries.

Midfielders

I. Martin – 6/10. Didn’t provide the security in possession that someone in his position should. Kept the shape well however and held PSG up.

O. Romeu – 5/10. Similar to Martin, he was shaky in possession. Had a lot to do defensively but wasn’t particularly good, winning only 6 of his 14 ground duels.

D. Van de Beek – 5/10. The creative midfielder barely saw the ball at all. He made only 7 passes in the hour of football that he played. Failed to create chances.

Forwards

B. Gil – 8/10. Stellar outing from the young winger. Pushed the team up on his own at times. Had Hakimi on toast 1v1, winning the most duels. Also did a great job tracking back.

C. Stuani – 6/10. Started a sentimental game because of all he has done to get Girona here. Had a header saved by the keeper. Any other striker in his place would have had a similar game.

V. Tsygankov – 5/10. Struggled to make things happen for Girona. Rather invisible throughout the game. It has been a rather ordinary start to the season for him.

Substitutions

Portu – 5/10. Didn’t really have all that much to do after coming on as he saw very little of the ball.

A. Danjuma – 5/10. The attacker touched the ball just 7 times in the half an hour he played.

J. Solis – 5/10. Same as the other two. Came on and made just 3 passes in over 20 minutes.

Y. Aspirilla – 4/10. Didn’t have the time or opportunity to do anything of note. Made 1 pass in 24 mins.

A. Frances – N.A.

Manager

Michel – 7/10. Traded his usual attacking style for a conservative approach. Almost left the game with something but proved unlucky.

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