A competition red flag or a rotation to accommodate the UEFA Champions League (UCL) schedule, Lee Kang-in (22, Paris Saint-Germain) came on in stoppage time and played just four minutes.
PSG drew 0-0 away to AS Monaco in the 24th round of the 2023-2024 French Ligue 1 at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, France on Sunday (Feb. 2).
It was PSG’s second consecutive draw in as many matches. Still, they remain at the top of the table with 16 wins, seven draws, and one loss, and 55 points. Monaco is in third place with 12 wins, six draws, and six losses and 42 points.
PSG deployed a 4-3-3 formation. Kylian Mbappe-Gonsalou Hamus-Marco Asensio, Vitinha-Manuel Ugarte-Carlos Soler, Luca Hernandez-Lucas Veraldo-Nordy Moukiele-Ashraf Hakimi, and Gianluigi Donnarumma started in the back four, with Lee Kang-In on the bench.
Monaco came out firing early on. In the fifth minute, Paulin Balogun broke through and fired a shot that was saved by the goalkeeper. 토토사이트 He followed up a quick breakaway with a shot in the 15th minute that was also blocked by the defense. Shortly afterward, Takumi Minamino’s shot from a corner kick was also blocked by Donnarumma.
Monaco looked to have taken the lead in the 25th minute when Wissam Benyeder found himself one-on-one with Balogun and calmly beat the keeper to rattle the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
PSG were then hit by injury.
Asensio went down in the 38th minute and was replaced by Bradley Barcola. Monaco attacked towards the end of the half, but were repeatedly denied by Donnarumma. Both teams finished the half scoreless.
Luis Enrique decided to make a change. At the start of the second half, he took off Mbappe and brought on Kolo Mouane for Kylian Mbappe, a move that took into account the fact that Mbappe is set to leave the club at the end of the season. He is expected to join Real Madrid in free agency. “We have to get used to playing without Mbappe sooner or later,” Enrique explained after the game.
Monaco were not disappointed. In the 13th minute of the second half, Ben Yedder volleyed home Minamino’s cross, but the ball hit the crossbar.
PSG also tried to take the lead, but were unable to capitalize. In the 22nd minute, Barcola got on the end of a pass from Vitinha, but his shot was saved by the keeper. In the 30th minute, Vitinha had a shot on goal with a curling effort after receiving a pass from Varkola. But again, goalkeeper Radoslaw Mayetski got a hand to it.
Lee Kang-in stepped on the turf. He entered the game in the 41st minute of the second half as a substitute for Soler. Playing in the center midfield, Lee had his chances, but the time was too short to show anything, and the two teams ended the game 0-0, sharing a point.
Lee has seen his playing time dwindle in recent years.
After returning from the Asian Cup 2023, he started and played 61 minutes against Nantes before being substituted just after halftime at the Stade Rennes, where he lasted just 45 minutes. This time, he was left out of the starting lineup altogether and only played about four minutes.
Naturally, there are concerns that the red light is on in the competition for the starting spot. It’s a valid concern, as Lee is competing with Ousmane Dembele, Vitinha, Luiz, and others for a place in the team. The fact that he hasn’t been as good as he was after returning from the Asian Cup adds to the concern.
However, it’s more likely that he’s being rested to prepare for the upcoming UCL matches than that he’s fallen off Enrique’s radar. PSG travel to Real Sociedad for the second leg of the UCL round of 16 on June 6th.
The most important thing for PSG right now is the UCL. They are already 12 points clear of second-place Brestois (43 points) at the top of the league table. Enrique can focus on the UCL with relative ease.
In fact, Enrique left out not only Lee Kang-in, but also Gonzalo Hammus, who has been in fine form of late, and key players Dembele and Warren Zairemeri. To some extent, 파워볼실시간 the Sociedad game was in mind. Lee also started against Newcastle at UCL last November after being rested against Monaco.
If Lee does start against Sociedad, he could face his ‘best friend’ Takefusa Kubo. The Japanese international striker is the team’s ace in the hole and is likely to start barring any major changes. The ‘Korea-Japan showdown’ didn’t happen in the first leg as Lee Kang-in was rested after returning from the Asian Cup.