Marquinhos Crumbles Under Pressure Against Fearsome Bayern Munich

Marquinhos faced significant challenges in the recent match after Paris Saint-Germain’s (PSG) disappointing 1-2 loss to Bayern Munich. Despite being rested against OGC Nice last weekend, the Brazilian international returned to the starting lineup but struggled alongside Willian Pacho, leading to a difficult evening.

He was overwhelmed by the movements of Bayern’s Serge Gnabry, Michael Olise, and others. Standing at 1.83m, Marquinhos frequently lost his duel against Harry Kane. His inability to stop the Bavarian attacks and poor passing further compounded his troubles. A notable error came just after the half-hour mark when Luis Diaz stole the ball from him, allowing the Bayern player to score easily.

A Captain Struggling

“A captain cannot perform like this. His nearly total responsibility for the second goal shows his struggles tonight. The pressure from Bayern was evident, and he could not manage the pace of the game. It was a challenging first half for him,” commented analysts from L’Equipe, giving him a rating of 2. Meanwhile, FM rated him at 2.5. Marquinhos attempted to explain his performance.

“It’s always tough to lose at home. It’s disappointing. We need to improve our game. They were very well organized and physically better than us. I, along with several others, am not at 100%. There are lessons to take from this, and we aim to compete against every opponent,” he admitted, acknowledging his physical readiness.

Without directly blaming him, coach Luis Enrique expressed concern about individual errors within the team. “We made some significant mistakes; when you give opportunities to top players, it’s hard to win. They could have scored even more. At this level, mistakes lead to goals,” the Spanish coach commented, referring to Marquinhos’ error for the second Bayern goal. As PSG prepares to face Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday at Groupama Stadium, Marquinhos must demonstrate that this performance was an isolated incident.