PSG will struggle against Barcelona - De Boer

Forum 9 years ago

PSG will struggle against Barcelona - De Boer

The Ajax boss was scathing in his appraisal of the French champions' performance at Parc des Princes, claiming they will need to up their game against the Catalans

Frank de Boer insists Paris Saint-Germain will run into significant trouble in their Champions League group decider against Barcelona unless they improve on their performance against Ajax.

The Dutch side’s coach was scathing of his opponents despite the French champions running out 3-1 winners at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday, claiming his team should have won the game.
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Davy Klaassen’s second-half goal cancelled out an Edinson Cavani opener, only for Ajax old-boy Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cavani to add further goals late on.

But De Boer - a former Barcelona player - insisted his side should have taken more from the game against an underwhelming PSG, who need a draw in Catalunya to secure top spot.

“We could and should have won this game,” De Boer told NOS. “I was pretty angry at half-time and I told the players that. They came out and did better in the second half.

“We were very well positioned and PSG didn’t have an answer. If they play like that against Barcelona, they’ll have problems.”

De Boer explained that his side were given plenty of space in which to have created more scoring chances than they managed.

“It was the same story as last year against Manchester City; you have to believe in a good result,” he continued.

“From the first minute we got the space to play our own game, but you have to use that space well. We made a lot of mistakes, it was so frustrating.

“I’m satisfied with the way we played from the start of the second half until our goal. We dominated and deserved an equaliser, but then we still gave it away. If ever there was an opportunity to grab the three points here, it was tonight.”

Ajax have collected only two points from their opening five fixtures in Group F, and host APOEL Nicosia on December 10 needing at least a draw to confirm their accession into the Europa League knockout stage.