‘Why Not Kang-In’ PSG legend says, “It doesn’t make sense to leave out a technical player like Lee against a big team”
“Against big teams, especially away, a player’s technique is everything. But you don’t play Lee Kang-in? Doesn’t make sense”.
PSG came from behind to defeat AC Milan 1-2 in the fourth leg of their UEFA Champions League (UCL) group stage match of the 2023-2024 season at San Siro in Milan, Italy, on Monday (Aug. 8).
The result snapped PSG’s five-match unbeaten streak in all competitions and dropped them to second place in the group with six points (D2 L2). Dortmund (7 points) moved back into first place.
PSG’s survival in the ‘Group of Death’ is no longer assured. PSG started well, beating Dortmund 2-0 in the first leg, but then suffered a humiliating 1-4 defeat at Newcastle. Fortunately, a 3-0 win over Milan at home gave them the green light to advance to the round of 16, but a sloppy performance away to Milan derailed their momentum.
It was disappointing to be outplayed in the midfield. PSG held the ball for long stretches, with nearly 70% of possession, but were unable to mount an effective attack. The PSG backline of Vitinha-Manuel Ugarte-Warren Zairemer was outworked and outplayed by Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Lee Kang-in, who was left out of the starting lineup, had injury concerns ahead of the game. “He didn’t train with us before the game against AC Milan. He could start the game from the bench.” In the end, Lee started on the bench.
Considering that Kylian Mbappe came off the bench after Lee was substituted, it could be seen as an injury precaution, but it could also be seen as a failure to start. In fact, Lee was on a roll, scoring his PSG debut goal against Milan, his first assist against Brest in the Ligue 1, and his first league goal against Montpellier.
In fact, after coming on as a substitute in the 15th minute of the second half, Lee energized the PSG attack with a sharp forward pass. He also took a free-kick corner. In the 44th minute, with the score 1-2, Lee made a quick move on the right side of the goal area, outmuscling Giroud and firing a left-footed shot that hit the right post.
Sofa Score, a soccer statistics site, gave Lee a rating of 7.2. In addition to his goal, Lee completed 25 of his 26 passes on the day. Notably, Lee has a higher rating than Mbappe. Mbappe had a rating of 7.0. It was a game that literally proved Lee’s performance.
After the game, France international Jerome Rothen, who played for AS Monaco and PSG, expressed his displeasure with Enrique’s selection. He said he didn’t understand why Vitinha started in place of Lee against Milan and argued that it should have been changed against a stronger opponent. 캡틴토토
“Lee is a better player (than Vitinha),” Rothen said. “Especially in terms of technique, he’s much more dominant,” he said, adding that “if the opponent is a strong team and presses well, like in the Milan game and the Dortmund game, you should always use him because he’s good at decompressing.
“Away games are always difficult. You have to keep the ball under their pressure and make sure they don’t play well. “You have to keep the ball under pressure and not let them play well,” he said, adding that Luis Enrique should start him because of his dominant technique when he came on as a substitute.
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