Paris Saint-Germain's UEFA Champions League hopes hang by a thread after a 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich on Tuesday left Luis Enrique's men mired in an elimination battle with just three games remaining in the league phase. Kim Min-jae's first-half header was enough to beat the Ligue 1 giants at Allianz Arena despite Ousmane Dembele's second-half dismissal and it was perhaps a harsh result on Les Parisiens given their performance.
However, playing well without the goals and thus points to show for it remains the recurring theme with PSG in the UCL these past couple of seasons and now the situation is arguably more critical than it ever has been. Matvey Safonov was preferred to Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal and started with a brilliant save to deny Jamal Musiala as part of a strong overall display aside from one brutal error in judgment which cost the visitors dear as Bayern scored from it.
Ousmane Dembele will have plenty of regrets having been sent off for a rash challenge while already on a booking but perhaps the mistake was the first booking for dissent rather than the second which ordinarily would have been a booking for a foul on Alphonso Davies. Warren Zaire-Emery will arguably feel the most at fault given that he wasted a glorious chance to go 1-0 up when he fired wide when well-positioned but it also underlined their major problem: they no longer score goals whether it be home or away games.
"It is hard to speak," said Vitinha postgame. "We gave it our all. We got the impression that it would have been different without the red card. With the red, it was tough physically. Bayern had an extra man and it was much tougher. The first half was tense between the two sides. They created more chances but only scored from a corner. I maintain that we have a very good team. We can play and beat the best. Unfortunately, we have been unlucky in this Champions League. We cannot deny it -- the situation is difficult. We have three games to go and we have to win all three."
Luis Enrique keeps seeing the same performances where his side create opportunities, do not take them and then get punished and so far the warnings have not been heeded considering the Arsenal and Atletico Madrid losses as well as the PSV Eindhoven draw. Goncalo Ramos being back on the field will be a big boost and getting him up to speed before the trip to face Red Bull Salzburg will be absolutely crucial but it has perhaps gone unnoticed that PSG have conceded twice as many goals as they have scored.
Lucas Hernandez and Presnel Kimpembe's absences have arguably been as detrimental as that of Ramos and there is no guarantee that either will be fit enough to feature in Austria just yet before a final home game against Manchester City. There is a very real possibility now that PSG could be playing for their Champions League hopes on the final day against VfB Stuttgart and that is not a scenario that many saw coming after last year's semifinal run but it is the result of wayward finishing against at least PSV and Atleti.
Certain aspects of the Bayern performance can be regarded as positive but the bottom line is simple and that is that the Germans did what Paris were unable to do and score -- as harsh as that is on Safonov who was more than a solid replacement for the error-prone Donnarumma. Even erasing Kim's goal would have only been good for a point which they admittedly would have taken while trailing by one goal and one man and probably would have even been greeted positively but that is not the situation now.
Realistically, PSG need to avoid defeat in their final three games and win two of them to even start being confident of advancing to the knockout phase and it is not an exact science given that it is the first year of this new format. With City one of those three remaining games and two more on the road which has not been kind to the French capital outfit of late, there is no remaining margin for error and no safety net -- failure to finish in the top 24 means that Europe is gone from late January and it looks increasingly likely after this result.