PSG slump to heavy defeat at Monaco

Paris St Germain produced a woeful performance as they lost 3-0 at Monaco in Ligue 1 on Sunday, a result that will put coach Mauricio Pochettino under more pressure less than two weeks after their Champions League exit.

PSG, on 65 points from 29 games, still lead Olympique de Marseille and Nice by 15 points before those sides meet later on Sunday, following third straight away league defeat.

With Lionel Messi ruled out by a bout of flu, the capital side showed close to nothing at the Louis II stadium 11 days after being knocked in the Champions League last 16 by Real Madrid who scored three goals in 17 minutes.

Monaco climbed to seventh on 44 points.

“They played well, congratulations to them. They’re a good team, a great club,” PSG striker Kylian Mbappe said.

“The goal is to get the 10th French title. We can win 8-0, 9-0, people will talk about the Champions League. Whatever happens we must respect ourselves, if we have a little bit of self esteem. We also need to respect the fans.”

The usually soft-spoken Pochettino also had strong words.

“The way we lost is not acceptable at this level of competition. We can’t start a game the way we started this one,” said the Argentine who took over midway through last season.

“We need to get over the Champions league exit, hopefully the international break will help put it behind us.”

PSG were overwhelmed in midfield and it was not long before they were punished. – Reuters