Paris Saint-Germain are back in the UEFA Champions League top 24 -- but only just -- after a 3-0 win away at Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday. The Ligue 1 titleholders have found the league phase hard going so far with three defeats after six games but picked up their second three-point haul thanks to Goncalo Ramos, Nuno Mendes and Desire Doue while doubling their goals scored tally.
Paris are finally back up into a knockout phase berth but it is by the smallest of provisional margins given that it is only a goal difference of plus three keeping Luis Enrique's men ahead of Feyenoord. With the Dutch outfit likely to see off Sparta Praha in the Netherlands on Wednesday, the French giants will likely drop back out of the top 24 but it does at least give last season's semifinalists hope.
Ramos recently returned from injury and notched his first goal of the season in messy fashion after being teed up by Achraf Hakimi 30 minutes in. However, despite largely dominating Salzburg in terms of possession and shots on as well as off-target as has been the case most games this term, it took until the 72nd minute for Mendes to make it two with a sweeping finish from a Doue assist.
Another piece of unselfish play from Hakimi offered the Frenchman the chance to make it 3-0 for the visitors which the summer signing did with aplomb. Such a comfortable winning margin was arguably the minimum expected of Les Parisiens, though, against the struggling Austrian powerhouse which has been part of an ailing Red Bull showing alongside eliminated Leipzig.
"It was important," said Bradley Barcola of the win postgame. "We knew that if we wanted to continue in this competition then we had to win here. I think that we did it in the best possible way. We started the game well which allowed us to put in a good overall performance. We are happy and I hope that it continues like this.
"I think it will be a turning point -- we had been struggling in front of goal for a while," added Barcola. "We scored three goals away from home which is very good. I hope that it continues. We saw that when we play without asking ourselves questions and by giving it our all, it enables us to win games."
Looking ahead to the final two games and knowing that PSG will likely be back outside of the top 24 going into their clash with Manchester City unless Feyenoord make a major mess on Wednesday, reaching 13 points is a stretch. Factoring in the current struggles being experienced by Pep Guardiola's men, though, it is not totally impossible and something to motivate Luis Enrique's team.
Stylistically, it was another performance that sought to smother the opposition with around 70% of the ball and comfortably more shots on and off target than their hosts. However, it was further proof that this Parisien outfit is not clinical enough in front of goal against one of the poorest sides in this year's competition on a night when Pepijn Lijnders' troops managed just one shot on goal.
Crucially, ahead of PSG's return to Parc des Princes in Europe against City, you could argue that it was not an enormous winning margin given how they could have further boosted their goal difference. Going into the Citizens clash as well as their closer vs. VfB Stuttgart, it does feel like it could come down to fine margins as to whether or not the Ligue 1 leaders make it to the knockouts.
Given how tight the field is within the top 24, three points against City could make a huge difference for Paris and it certainly makes that clash fascinating once the Champions League returns in early 2025 for the two remaining league phase games. Feyenoord's expected win over Sparta Praha makes this likely to be only temporary relief from what remains a difficult campaign, though.