PARIS: Unai Emery is once again a coach under pressure as his Paris Saint-Germain side prepare to face Nice on Sunday looking to close the gap on the surprise Ligue 1 leaders.
A 12-game unbeaten run had appeared the perfect response to early-season criticism of Emery at PSG, but in the last week the Spaniard has seen his side humbled 3-0 by Montpellier and then left to scramble a 2-2 draw with Ludogorets in the Champions League.
After two such worrying performances, it is debatable whether Emery could even survive a defeat at home to Nice, which would leave the defending champions seven points adrift of the southern upstarts with the season’s halfway stage approaching.
“It is a difficult spell, but we will show a reaction on Sunday in what is a huge match for us,” insisted midfielder Blaise Matuidi, just about the only PSG player deserving of pass marks against Ludogorets.
PSG needed a late Angel di Maria equaliser to avoid defeat at home to the Bulgarians after a lacklustre display but the result meant they finished second in Champions League Group A to Arsenal.
“This disappointment must give us the desire to lift our hands and show a different face in the last 16. We must improve, and that starts on Sunday against Nice,” said Emery in his still stumbling French.
PSG have Adrien Rabiot and Javier Pastore on the sidelines while Di
Maria is in wretched form, so they may look to Hatem Ben Arfa for creative inspiration against the club for whom he starred last season.
Without him, the side from the Cote d’Azur — with a reported budget less than a tenth of PSG’s — have gone from strength to strength this season under Lucien Favre and they have topped the table since mid-September.
