Marquinhos singled out as PSG weak link before Bayern test
Marquinhos was singled out as PSG’s weak point before Tuesday evening’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich. Mats Hummels and Benedikt Höwedes both pointed to the 31-year-old centre-back as a possible route for Bayern to exploit in Paris.
Hummels Targets PSG Pressure
Hummels said Marquinhos would be a focus whenever Bayern had the ball, after the defender struggled in the opening 45 minutes of the 2-1 group-stage loss at Parc des Princes in early November. He said, “I don’t think he was prepared for Bayern’s intense pressing,” and added, “He didn’t seem quite up to the pace. He usually is, but I could imagine that was on his mind today.”
He also laid out the approach Bayern would try to repeat: “As Bayern, we’d look to press him every time he has the ball and make him feel uncomfortable again.” That view was tied directly to what happened in the earlier meeting, when Marquinhos was largely to blame for Luis Díaz’s second goal in Bayern Munich’s 2-1 win in Paris.
Höwedes Names Marquinhos
Höwedes was even blunter about PSG’s defensive issue. “He was the main weak point in the league campaign,” he said ahead of the first leg. The point landed because Luis Enrique has still started Marquinhos in 12 of PSG’s 14 Champions League matches this season, a sign the coach continues to trust him in Europe even while he has started only one of PSG’s last nine domestic fixtures.
That split in usage tells the story of PSG’s season around him. Marquinhos has been at the club since 2013, and last season he guided Paris Saint-Germain to their first European crown. In this campaign, though, the spotlight has shifted back to how he handles pressure, especially against a Bayern side that already beat PSG 2-1 at Parc des Princes.
Paris to Munich
Marquinhos also offered PSG a lift in the quarter-final second leg at Liverpool, when he made a goal-line clearance in the 2-0 win. That is the counterweight to the criticism: he can still decide high-end European ties, even as opponents try to turn his first touch into the target.
The return fixture is scheduled for next Wednesday in Munich, and the winners will meet either Arsenal or Atlético Madrid in the Champions League final in Budapest at the end of May. For PSG, the immediate issue is simple enough: protect Marquinhos under Bayern’s press, or spend another leg chasing the same problem.
