Five Things We Learnt As Paris Saint Germain Stumbled to Another Home Defeat in Ligue 1

• PSG's season continues drifting from bad to worse as they suffered yet another home defeat
• They have now lost twice as many games in 2023 as they did during the whole of 2022
• The defeat mounts more pressure on under-fire manager Christophe Galtier

Paris Saint-Germain stumbled to back-to-back home defeats in the French top flight following their one-nil loss against Olympique Lyon on Sunday.

Bradley Barcola’s second-half goal was more than enough to compound Christophe Galtier's misery.

The defeat reduces PSG's lead at the top of Ligue 1 to just six points with nine games left in the season.

Sports Brief takes a look at the five talking points in PSG's sobering defeat:

Faltering season goes from bad to worse

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PSG's stuttering end to the season went from bad to worse after suffering consecutive home defeats in the Ligue 1 for the first time since 2020.

The Parisians had hoped for a better performance, having started on a flier. However, Olympique Lyon weathered the storm and eventually punished their profligate hosts.

Galtier's men are out of the Champions League and Coupe de France, with their brightest chance of winning silverware being the Ligue 1, which is slowly slipping through their hands.

Messi and Mbappe kept in check

Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe combined for just one shot on target as injury-hit PSG never truly threatened in the match at Parc des Princes, per Sporting News.

The duo were expertly kept at bay by a disciplined performance from Laurent Blanc's men - shutting out PSG's goal-scoring outlets.

Lyon were content to withstand pressure from PSG and respond with venom, and they earned the three points at stake.

PSG fans savagely boo Lionel Messi again at the Parc des Princes; video

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Messi booed again

No love was lost between Paris Saint-Germain fans and the 2022 World Cup winner, Inside Sport reports

Before the most recent international break, Leo Messi was jeered by the club's fanbase, and the same was replicated in their weekend top liner against Olympique Lyon.

When Messi's name was revealed in the starting lineup for the Ligue 1 match against Lyon, whistles and groans could be heard at Parc des Princes before to kickoff.

PSG's poor bench bites again

The decision by the club to alter their transfer policy of avoiding 'bling bling' players have come to bite hard.

The Parisians opted to invest in younger talents at modest fees, but the decision has ultimately proved fruitless.

In games where the starters have failed to glitter, Christophe Galtier literally has no one to fall on. What has made matters worse is the injuries to key players like Neymar and Presnel Kimpembe.

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Thin midfield exposes PSG

PSG have a criminally thin midfield line which solely depends on the spark of the injury-prone Marco Veratti.

The club struggled to deal with Lyon's lethal counterattacking style of play, with Laurent Blanc's men evading the midfield press with ease.

Despite having just 38 per cent of ball possession, Lyon finished the game with an xG (Expected goals) of 1.73, 0.51 better than that of PSG, who had 62 per cent of ball possession.

They forced Gianluigi Donnaruma to five point-blank saves, including a penalty from Alexander Lacazette, underlining the fragility of the defensive cover.