“Paris is capable of being flamboyant, but Paris is also capable of suffering,” analyzes Bixente Lizarazu, after PSG qualified for the final

The 98 world champion advises Paris Saint-Germain players to work on set pieces, a specialty of their future opponent, Inter Milan, but also on “emotional management” of the final.

“Paris is capable of being flamboyant, especially when they control the game well, but Paris is also capable of suffering and you need all these qualities to go far”analyzes Thursday Bixente Lizarazu football consultant for franceinfo and world champion 98, Thursday May 8, the day after PSG’s qualification for the Champions League final. Manhandled for several periods, PSG was able to be “able to resist without being very good”believes Bixente Lizarazu. The Parisians beat Arsenal 2-1, with goals from Fabián Ruiz (27′) and Achraf Hakimi (72′), a week after their victory in the first leg (1-0). They join Inter Milan in the final. The match will take place on Saturday May 31 in Munich.

He sees a big evolution in the Parisian club “since 2025”. First of all, “Paris eliminated Liverpool, who were the big favorites in this competition. I think that gave them confidence”says Bixente Lizarazu. “Then, Paris evolved its game, which was based exclusively on possession and often sterile without being effective in front of goal.” Today, he believes that they have “a game where they know how to alternate possession and transition, counter-attacks” et “It changed a lot of things”.

“They are really scary on the counter-attack because they have attackers who are very strong in this way of playing with Dembélé, with Barcola, with Kvaratskhelia. They are players who like to have depth and who are very strong”underlines Bixente Lizarazu. In this semi-final, “Arsenal panicked” while they had “very well started”. “It calmed them down because they took terrible counterattacks”says the 98 world champion.

For the final against Inter Milan, Luis Enrique the PSG coach will have to work “on set pieces because Inter are the best team on offensive set pieces. And that’s a bit of a weakness for Paris Saint-Germain lately, so they need to work on that”explains the former French international.

Another issue, according to the former world champion, “It’s the emotional management of a final, it has absolutely nothing to do with it. Paris played a final against Bayern five years ago, but it was not the same group. This group is very young, they have not experienced this pressure, and it is not easy. So, I think it will be a lot of psychological work for Enrique”.