Paris Saint-Germain endured a disastrous start to their summer preparations. Away to Real Mallorca, the European champions suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat after a worrying performance marked by numerous defensive mistakes and an obvious lack of match sharpness.
With most of his international players still on holiday following the World Cup, Luis Enrique fielded a very young side built around Kvaratskhelia, Safonov, Beraldo, Zabarnyi and Mayulu. Despite controlling possession well in the opening minutes, PSG created very little danger. Their best chance fell to Ibrahim Mbaye, whose powerful strike crashed against the crossbar.
Defensive errors punish a fragile PSG side
The match then turned in the space of a few minutes. Luvumbo opened the scoring after racing beyond the Paris defence in the 21st minute, before Virgili took advantage of a mistake from Zabarnyi to double Mallorca’s lead shortly before half-time. After the break, Raíllo sealed the victory with a header from a corner, once again exploiting PSG’s lack of defensive aggression in the 51st minute.
The numerous changes made by Luis Enrique failed to alter the course of the game. Paris never managed to raise the tempo and struggled in every area of the pitch. Only Willian Pacho’s introduction brought greater composure to a defence that had been under severe pressure throughout the match.
This heavy defeat represents an early warning for PSG. Even with a heavily rotated squad, the Parisians displayed major collective weaknesses that will need to be corrected quickly before their next pre-season fixture against Manchester United on Saturday.
