Les Parisiens were off to a losing start to their campaign.
PSG were humbled by Lens in their opening game of the Ligue 1 campaign.
Thomas Tuchel was forced to field youngsters Kalimuendo and Kays Ruiz-Atil in the absence of COVID-stricken stars like Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
As predicted by the manager itself, Les Parisiens have started their Ligue 1 season in the worst possible way.
Both the teams failed to score in the first half, with PSG’s academy star Ruiz-Atil standing out in his maiden call-up to the senior team.
However, Lens’ forward Ignatius Ganago provided the opener in the 57th minute after a howler by PSG goalkeeper Marca Bulka. Ganago has had a chance denied by the cross-ber in the opening half.
The hosts became more dangerous with each passing minutes in the second half and came close to scoring the double on a few instances.
Pablo Sarabia produced a lacklustre performance as the Spaniard failed to fill in the shoes of Angel di Maria.
Tuchel was also cynical about the defeat, admitting PSG’s poor display in the absence of several first-team players.
The German manager said: “I don’t think we could have done any better tonight.” “I was happy with the first half we had. We controlled the game completely, and we had possession.”
“We struggled to create scoring chances today. No opportunities? Yes, I agree. But we have a small group, and we are missing the players who make the difference.”
“With a young team, we made a decisive mistake and we couldn’t take advantage of their mistakes. A draw is the best we could have hoped for.”
