It has come as little surprise to see Lorient’s downturn in form coincide with injuries to star striker Terem Moffi and midfield maestro Laurent Abergel, and while the former was fit enough to come off the bench against Nice last time out, Les Merlus still slumped to their first defeat since August.
Dango Ouattara powered home a header to put Regis Le Bris’s high-flyers in the ascendancy, but in the second half, Youcef Atal cut in from the right to fire home before Gaetan Laborde’s effort took a significant deflection and looped over Yvon Mvogo into the back of the net.
Having put together a remarkable six-game winning streak earlier in the autumn, Lorient have now gone three games without victory in the French top flight, but it would have been a monumental shock to see Le Bris’s men sustain their charge for a Champions League place for much longer.
Nevertheless, Les Merlus remain firmly in continental contention as they occupy fourth place in the rankings – three points clear of Marseille and only behind Rennes on goal difference – and they are yet to suffer back-to-back defeats in the tournament this season.
The hosts have also been shut out just once in their last 14 Ligue 1 matches and will no doubt have been made aware of PSG’s recent frailties at the back, but a record of just one clean sheet from eight games is there to be exposed by the champions.
Beating Juventus on their own patch was not enough for Paris Saint-Germain to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League as group winners, as they were pushed all the way by Benfica and eventually pipped by the Portuguese powerhouses on the final matchday.
Kylian Mbappe and Nuno Mendesfinished with aplomb either side of Leonardo Bonucci’s equaliser, but with Benfica thumping Maccai Haifa 6-1, Galtier’s men were consigned to a second-placed finish in Group H courtesy of their inferior goal difference.
Defensive deficiencies have not helped PSG in that regard at all recently, as they conceded three to Troyes at the Parc des Princes last weekend but ultimately managed to run out 4-3 winners, which sees them maintain a five-point lead over Lens at the top of the Ligue 1 table.
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Nevertheless, victory over Juventus marked a fifth win on the bounce in all competitions for the capital club, who are aiming to stretch their lengthy unbeaten
run in all competitions to 30 games this weekend, and the champions have impressively conceded just one goal in their last eight Ligue 1 away games – keeping clean sheets in each of their last five.
That wonderful streak will be tested to the extreme at the Stade du Moustoir, but a sixth consecutive away clean sheet in Ligue 1 would mark a new club record for PSG, who have failed to beat Lorient away from home in their last two attempts – drawing 1-1 in December after a 3-2 loss earlier in 2021.
