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PSG furious after Motta hurt in tunnel fracas

Paris Saint-Germain were left fuming on Saturday after midfielder Thiago Motta was left with a fractured nose following a bust-up in the tunnel at the end of their Ligue 1 clash with SC Bastia.

PSG furious after Motta hurt in tunnel fracas
PSG's Thiago Motta (L) was left with a bloody nose. Photo: AFP

Images from surveillance cameras in the tunnel at the Parc des Princes, obtained by several local media outlets, appeared to show Bastia's Brazilian forward Brandao waiting for Motta to approach him before headbutting the Brazil-born Italy international.

A mass altercation then ensued, and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi told beIN Sports that Motta's nose had been fractured in the incident.

Al-Khelaifi also called for serious action to be taken against Brandao, the 34-year-old former Marseille player.

"I hope that the Bastia player who did that is very severely punished. A heavy punishment is required," he said.

Meanwhile, PSG's Brazilian captain Thiago Silva, who is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, used his Instagram account to attack Brandao.

"I want to know how many matches this guy will be suspended for…a guy who is always disloyal!! Who always wants to talk instead of play," wrote Silva, who in May last year was suspended for shoving a referee during a Ligue 1 match against Valenciennes.

"If I got three matches two years ago for touching the referee…Imagine an assault like that?? The fourth official saw everything, I was by his side when this guy attacked our player."

PSG coach Laurent Blanc also accused Brandao of being responsible for the injury that forced full-back Gregory Van der Wiel to come off at half-time of the game, which the reigning champions won 2-0.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off injured, after apparently straining a muscle in his side, after just 14 minutes of the match against the Corsicans, before goals from Lucas and Edinson Cavani gave PSG their first Ligue 1 win of the campaign.

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FOOTBALL

OPINION: Mbappé’s title, but PSG need to breathe new life into Qatari project

After being the star of France's 2018 World Cup triumph, Kylian Mbappé has been the standout player for Paris Saint-Germain in a Ligue 1 title-winning campaign that has been slightly marred by the manner in which they limped over the line.

OPINION: Mbappé's title, but PSG need to breathe new life into Qatari project
Photos AFP

PSG finally wrapped up the title on Sunday after second-placed Lille failed to beat Toulouse, having not won any of their previous three games when the opportunity to confirm a sixth French crown in seven seasons was there.

The Qatari-owned club can still make it a domestic double, with the French Cup final to come against Rennes next weekend, yet this will not be remembered as a vintage year.

While Neymar once again went missing due to injury at the crucial point, Edinson Cavani has struggled with fitness too, and coach Thomas Tuchel has regularly lashed out at the lack of depth in his squad.

The 5-1 capitulation at Lille a week ago was the worst league result for PSG since Qatar Sports Investments bought the club in 2011, and the first time they had let in five in a league game since 2000.

A record-breaking 14-match winning run with which they started the season now seems like a long time ago, the latest Champions League failure clouding Tuchel's first campaign in charge.

Mbappé, at least, has been a constant, revelling in his status as a World Cup winner and hardly ever being rested. He only turned 20 in December, but has now won three Ligue 1 titles in a row.

Mbappé has 36 goals in 40 games this season, with 30 in the league. And, frighteningly, his team-mate Daniel Alves told RMC recently that “he doesn't realise how good he is, he can go much further”.

He is also not used to losing, and may have upset some of his teammates with his assessment of last week's defeat at Lille. “We played like beginners,” he said.

Hollow ring

To be fair, they have usually been exceptional domestically. However, the problem is that as long as they keep failing in the Champions League, domestic success for a club backed by a Gulf state will continue to ring hollow.

The title has effectively been in the bag for some time, but their season has been winding down ever since their exit against Manchester United in the last 16.

That, combined with being knocked out in the League Cup quarter-finals, means Tuchel in his first season has actually done worse than Unai Emery, his unloved predecessor.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel has actually done worse than his predecessor, Unai Emery
However, according to sports daily L'Equipe, Tuchel has agreed to extend his contract to 2021. Thoughts have already turned to the future, with new signings needed at the Parc des Princes.

The costly Neymar experiment cannot be said to have succeeded until he stays fit for the games that matter, and there will always be speculation about his future.

“We have a contract, we're not even halfway through that contract,” Neymar's father pointed out to RMC Sport.

Time for a clear-out? 

Mbappé is the one man they really cannot afford to lose, but is it time for a clear-out elsewhere?

Some of the excitement of the early part of the decade has gone, replaced with a staleness. The days of Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani and Marco Verratti are maybe ending.

Youri Djorkaeff, a World Cup winner for France and a PSG star in the 1990s, offers a frank assessment, suggesting real change is needed higher up.

“If you're not great in every compartment, from the bus driver to the girls who clean the shirts, you will go nowhere,” he told Ligue 1 Podcast, 'Le Beau Jeu'.

“Paris Saint-Germain, after many years without success, have to rebuild everything, restart from scratch, because the foundations are not good. You cannot expect to one day win the Champions League without these foundations.”

The Qatar project needs a breath of fresh air, and all eyes will be on president Nasser al-Khelaifi and sporting director Antero Henrique.

UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules remain a problem, though, with PSG said to have a hole of around 100 million euros and the need to present a balanced budget by the end of June. The next few months will be interesting.

By Andy Scott/AFP

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