22nd March, 2023
Former Germany captain, Philipp Lahm, has claimed that Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) was still “not a team,” but rather a “luxury department store” owned by Qataris.
Lahm stated this in a weekly Die Zeit column published on Wednesday.
According to him, despite having fantastic individual players like Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar, the French champions have been underachievers as a team so far.
PSG are yet to win the Champions League, going out this term in the last 16 against Bayern Munich without scoring a goal.
He suggested that PSG in its current form were more of a showcase of its owners’ wealth and political intentions.
“This exorbitantly expensive team resembles a luxury department store that displays its most valuable exhibits, which are marvelled at by everyone but which no one can afford,” Lahm asserted.
“It guarantees high attention and spectacle, but only works economically. When so much money is spent but the opposite of quality is achieved, it is not good.
“Politically, the PSG investment may have paid off. Football’s popularity makes it a suitable instrument for other purposes. That is the way of the world.
“Football, however, is something else. Great teams, with which people identify, develop in a process. This can only succeed with cooperation, solidarity and community. These are the values of Europe, but not those of PSG,“ he added.
On the pitch, Lahm said that PSG “are not a team” as they “play uninspired football and offers the audience piecemeal”.
“They are all among the most famous footballers on the planet and have fans and followers all over the globe. But nothing remotely supernatural emerged in the two duels with Bayern Munich. Nothing that arouses enthusiasm, nothing that you want to be a part of.
“You must feel sorry for the many PSG fans who travelled to Munich,” Lahm said.
dpa/NAN