Recap: PSG dominate Salzburg on the road
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To say that Paris Saint-Germain needed points from their Matchday 6 UEFA Champions League trip to face RB Salzburg would be an understatement. Despite being unbeaten and well clear atop Ligue 1 McDonald's, Luis Enrique's team had struggled mightily in Europe, with just four points from their first five matches. Absences had played their part, to be sure, but off the back of a pair of limp draws against Auxerre and FC Nantes in the league, the pressure was well and truly on the capital side.
A needed response
Enrique made something of a surprising change to his eleven to start the match, dropping Warren Zaïre-Emery to play a midfield three of João Neves, Vitinha and Fabián Ruiz. With Ousmane Dembélé suspended, Lee Kang-In started on the right flank, and Gonçalo Ramos led the line, the Portuguese international continuing to work his way back to full fitness.
It didn't take long for the visitors to threaten the Salzburg goal, either, as PSG showed good initiative from the off against an opponent who have struggled in the competition and were also dealing with injuries. With ten minutes gone, Salzburg 'keeper Alexander Schlager made a fine double save, keeping out a long-range effort from Achraf Hakimi and a follow-up by Ramos. The striker was then (24') nearly on the end of a teasing cross, but where he failed to find the net there, he would make no mistake on the half hour, scoring from close range after Hakimi had nodded down a teasing cross from Bradley Barcola.
GONÇALO RAMOS IS BACK IN BUSINESS! 🇵🇹🎯 pic.twitter.com/vEhreZdrw3
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) December 10, 2024
Continued dominance
From there, PSG would spurn a handful of chances, but would keep their lead going into the interval, battering the hosts as they dominated possession and chances created. The second half started in a more disjointed fashion, but again Enrique's side grew into the match, prodding at their opponents until Nuno Mendes doubled the lead with less than twenty minutes to play, cleverly finishing from Désiré Doué's low cross.
Up 2-0 and in full control, the Parisians would see out the match, adding a goal from Doué (85') to seal a 3-0 result that pulled them back in to the top 24 of the competition ahead of matches in 2025 against Manchester City and Stuttgart in this competition. Before that, though, they'll conclude the Ligue 1 portion of their schedule with a tough pair of matches against Olympique Lyonnais this Sunday and AS Monaco next midweek.
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