French newspaper L’Équipe has developed a bit of a reputation for its harsh player ratings.
The sport-specific publication has famously only ever awarded 10/10 rating to seven players. That’s not this year. That’s not this decade. It’s ever.
It’s not happened since Robert Lewandowski scored four goals against Real Madrid, so bear that in mind when you take a look at their ratings from Arsenal’s Champions League draw with Paris Saint-Germain.
Of course, while 10/10 might not be realistic, that doesn’t mean a score of two stops being bad.
Now, they may have decided on that score for Shkodran Mustafi when he was left exposed for Edinson Cavani’s first-minute opener, or when Cavani was presented with – and squandered – a number of other chances, but it’s not a good look for the German centre-back.
L'équipe ratings for #PSGvAFC harsh on Krychowiak. Cavani… pic.twitter.com/9GpTYytHoC
— Andrew 🦄🏴 (@thegibshow_) September 13, 2016
Arsenal were bailed out by surprise pick David Ospina – despite the sight of the Colombian’s name on the teamsheet being met by scorn before kickoff – and the former Nice number one is the only player to score more than manager Arsene Wenger’s six.
We’re not sure the tactics of ‘stand around for an hour and hope Cavani shits his pants’ are necessarily worthy of such a high score for Le Professeur, but we’ll bow to L’Équipe’s better judgement on this one.
As for the home side, their goalscorer ending the game with a rating of four says a lot about the 89 minutes that followed his early header, while Marco Verratti’s late red card didn’t detract from an impressive midfield performance.
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