There was no shame in this defeat for Tottenham, which represented progress after the north London derby disaster at Arsenal on Sunday. There were measures of encouragement ahead of the crucial Premier League home game against Fulham on Saturday, most notably in the shape of Randal Kolo Muani, the striker who is on loan from Paris Saint-Germain.
Kolo Muani set up Richarlison for 1-0 and scored for 2-1 himself with a stinging volley. There would be another one for him before this wild tie was over. They were his first in Spurs’ colours.
And yet there was nevertheless frustration for Thomas Frank and his players, especially in how they allowed the initiative to slip. The star of the occasion was Vitinha, PSG’s peerless midfield controller. He finished with a hat-trick, producing a pair of equalisers with glorious long-range shots and setting the seal on the win towards the end from the penalty spot.
It added up to a fourth win out of five for the holders in this competition, setting them fair for direct progress into the last 16. There was drama until the end, the PSG substitute, Theo Hernández, being sent off for an elbow on another replacement, Xavi Simons. Spurs competed, as Frank had demanded. It was not enough to drive them to a famous result. For the first time this season, they tasted defeat in the Champions League.
All eyes had been on how Spurs lined up. Would Frank stick with a back five, a move that had played so badly against Arsenal? The answer was no. He loaded his starting XI with four central midfielders and arranged them in a diamond at the outset, Archie Gray at the tip behind a strike pair of Kolo Muani and Richarlison.
It was another new set-up from Frank in his ongoing efforts to find the perfect blend. Flexibility was the watchword for the midfielders, with Gray dropping back out of possession and Lucas Bergvall pushing up when he could on the left. It felt significant that Frank’s No 1 midfielder, João Palhinha, started among the substitutes. Ditto the No 1 attacker, Mohammed Kudus. Did Frank have one eye on Fulham?
The Parc des Princes offers a beguiling sense of theatre, lashings of event glamour, beginning with the pre-match show – the lights, the tifos, the fireworks, the call-and-response announcement of the team. PSG’s home-field tends to equal advantage.
The PSG ultras sang without pause during the first half, the beat of a drum another constant. There was one more detail that stood out – the promptings of Vitinha at the base of the PSG midfield. There were the trademark sharp turns and the fizz on his passes, although there was a deftness to his floated ball on 21 minutes that picked out the run of Warren Zaïre-Emery in behind the Spurs backline. The finish was confused; a good chance wasted.
Moments earlier, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had banged past the far post from distance but Spurs were comfortable in the first half. Frank’s selection was all about energy in the middle of the pitch; hard running. And there was evidence that Spurs wanted to get up the pitch. Bergvall and Gray got into good positions; Djed Spence, too, from left-back.
The breakthrough was such a tonic for Spurs – just as Vitinha’s equaliser was a sickener, especially in terms of the timing. It was Bergvall who ignited the move for 1-0 with a lovely flick for Gray, allowing him to cross from the left. Up went Kolo Muani, unmarked beyond the far post, and his header gave Richarlison the relatively simple task of nodding in from close range.
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Vitinha’s goal was a beauty, yet another illustration of his technical brilliance. When PSG worked a corner short, the 18-year-old striker, Quentin Ndjantou – on his full Champions League debut – rolled square along the edge of the box. It was inviting. Vitinha unloaded first time with his right foot, the ball crashing in off the crossbar.
Spurs shook their heads clear during the interval to provide their travelling fans with another moment to cherish. It was a deep Pedro Porro corner and when Richarlison won his header, working the ball back inside, Gray did brilliantly to hook goalwards. Willian Pacho made a dramatic clearance off his own line, getting the ball up and away via the crossbar but there was Kolo Muani to return it with interest.
It was PSG’s turn to respond. Again. Spurs had seen the movie, they knew the ending, a sense of inevitability clinging to it all when PSG worked the ball from left to right, Kvaratskhelia playing the final pass and Vitinha cutting inside and shaping the glorious curler for the far corner.
At which point Spurs cracked. The concessions for numbers three and four were grisly; self-inflicted wounds to the fore. Pape Sarr was robbed by Hernández after Spurs had tried to play out from the goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario. Seconds later, Fabián Ruiz had swept home. And how did Spurs not clear the corner for No 4? Sarr looked as though he had to do so but could not. Pacho made him pay.
If the start to the tie had been cagey, it would open up. Dramatically. Kolo Muani’s second goal was another clean finish after Rodrigo Bentancur had done the unthinkable and dispossessed Vitinha. Back came PSG. Cristian Romero was adjudged to have blocked a Vitinha shot with his hand. When Vitinha addressed the penalty, the outcome was not in doubt.