Werkself review #B04PSG: Shake it off and keep working

Summary: Too big a margin

Paris Saint-Germain player Willian Pacho gave the visitors an early lead (7’) after PSG dominated possession early on. That was the start of a series of events: Firstly Alejandro Grimaldo missed a penalty (26'), then Robert Andrich was sent off (33’). PSG player Illia Zabarnyi was also shown a red card (37’) and both teams were down to ten players from then on. Grimaldo's fellow countryman Aleix Garcia netted the second penalty of the match to make it 1-1 (38'). However, the reigning champions then regained control of the game and left the Werkself without a chance with three goals from Désiré Doué (42’, 45 +3’) and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (44’) making it 4-1 at half-time. The French side continued to show their desire in the second half and scored further goals through Nuno Mendes (50'), Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé (66') and Vitinha (90'). Bayer 04 also scored again with Garcia bagging a brace with a spectacular long-range shot (54'). The final score was 7-2. The match report.

Reaction: "Fans sense exactly when we need them as a team"

Kasper Hjulmand had the following to say after the defeat: "A big compliment and congratulations for PSG, they were obviously the better team tonight. Of course, we are feeling a lot of pain right now, it’s big numbers and professionally we are hurt. We went behind from a set-piece early on but we fought back and I think we had some good minutes. We had a red card but we came back at 1-1 on 38 minutes. Then I think all the decisive minutes came then. We played in a new structure. We played too open and left too much space, we had some ball losses and we lost the game in these seven minutes." Hjulmand had this to say about his expectations for the rest of the UCL campaign: "I think we have to level on where we are in this competition. We shouldn’t fly too high if we suddenly win a match and we shouldn’t be too low when things like that happen tonight. We are still building and trying to make the next steps. It’s definitely a challenge in the Champions League."

The Dane added: "I’m very, very thankful for the fans and their support. I don't see everything when I’m on the side-line and I have to be very thankful for that. I think that's what real fans do. When they feel the pain they try to help by backing us up and I really have respect for the way they treated us today and I really hope and believe we can give them something back on Sunday. And once again our fans were incredible today."

Double goalscorer Garcia emphasised something similar afterwards: "First of all, thank you to the fans because they were unbelievable until the last moment." The Spaniard commented on the match: "It was a tough night today but it’s only one game. The Bundesliga continues on Sunday. Today this loss hurts a lot. We always score a lot but now we have to work to give away zero goals because it’s good for our confidence in the coming games. I think we've made a big step forward in the Bundesliga. We want to continue."

What the papers say: "Get humiliation out of our heads"

The kicker headline read: "Wild first half: nine goals, two penalties and two red cards" and continued: "PSG teach Bayer a lesson". The Rheinische Post took a similar view: "Despite equalising early on, coach Kasper Hjulmand's team went down 7-2 in the end - and learned a lot against the top French club." The Bild newspaper described it as follows: "The Werkself experience a horror show against PSG and are shot down 7-2 by the reigning champions", but also conceded that "Garcia at least provided another nice Bayer moment with a wonder goal". And for the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, the aim now is to "get the humiliation out of our heads so we can show a different side against SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Sunday."

Personnel: Several debuts

Claudio Echeverri made his first start in the UEFA Champions League. For Arthur it was his first appearance in the starting XI this season. Meanwhile, U19 player Jeremiah Mensah, who came on as a late substitute, played his first ever minutes in this competition.

It was the second brace of his career for Garcia, his first coming on 28 September 2019 in Belgium for Royal Excel Mouscron (2-2 against Zulte Waregem).

Stats: Indisputable numbers

The stats of the game also reflect the superiority of the opponents: PSG had 24 shots on goal (Bayer 04: 6), just under 71 per cent possession and won almost 61 per cent of duels. The Werkself pass completion rate was just under 85 per cent (PSG: 94 per cent).

Coming up: Bundesliga then DFB Pokal

The Werkself will play their second home game of the week on Sunday, 26 October (kick-off: 15:30 CET), against SC Freiburg. Three days later, on Wednesday, 29 October (kick-off: 18:00 CET), Bayer 04 host SC Paderborn 07 in the second round of the DFB Pokal.