Despite the draw against Strasbourg, Paris Saint Germain did enough to win their 11th Ligue 1 title in the club’s history.
Prior to the encounter at the Stade de la Meinau in Strasbourg, the Parisians needed only a draw to secure the title.
And after 90 minutes of action that lacked much goalmouth actions, Christophe Galtier’s side shared the spoils with 15th placed Strasbourg.
Paris Saint Germain starting lineup: Donnarumma, Zaire-Emery, Pereira, Ramos, Bitshiabu, Bernat, Verratti, Sanches, Vitinha, Messi and Mbappe.
Strasbourg starting lineup: Sels, Dagba, Nyamsi, Doukoure, Perrin, Guilbert, Bellegarde, Sissoko, Sanson, Diarra and Diallo.
Paris Saint Germain enjoyed the larger share of possession for most parts of the game but they couldn’t turn their dominance into many goals.
The team tutored by Frederic Antonetti were compact, dogged and resilient for most parts of the game and as such didn’t give PSG much room in their penalty area.
Referee Jerome Brisard stamped his authority in the game early on as he brandished a yellow card to Vitinha.
The Portuguese was cautioned for a forceful challenge on Diarra as the home side went on a counter-attack.
Strasbourg almost took the lead in the 15th minute as Bitshiabu’s pass to Donnarumma was a poor one and it gave room for Diallo to sniff around and intercept the ball.
Diallo afterwards fired a shot from a very tight angle that appeared like it was headed for the bottom corner, however, it was cleared away by Ramos.
In the 23rd minute of proceedings, Diarra became the second player to go into the referee’s book after he dragged Sanches shirt to reduce his pace.
Paris Saint Germain also saw their own big chance of the first 45 minutes as Kylian Mbappe played a corner which found Sanches in the penalty area.
Sanches blasted a one-time volley at goal and sent his attempt on target but it resulted in a brilliant save from Sels.
Probably the biggest chance of the first 45 minutes fell to the blue and Whites after Guilbert sent a high pass to the 18-yard box of PSG for Diarra, who did enough to win the aerial duel with Ramos and nodded the ball down for Diallo.
Diallo made a touch to give himself some balance before smashing a half-volley from 25 yards out which beat Donnarumma but unfortunately it couldn’t go past the goalkeeper’s best friend.
The first 45 ended with Paris Saint Germain and Strasbourg level at the interval.
Second half commenced with much urgency from Paris Saint Germain as they continued to dominate the game.
14 minutes from commencement of hostilities in the second half, Lionel Messi struck his 16th goal of the season to put PSG in front.
Mbappe played a nice pass to Messi, with the Argentine smashing a left-footed attempt into the net.
In the 66th minute, Frederic Antonetti brought on Dimitri Lienard for Colin Dagba as he effected some changes with the intent of drawing level.
9 minutes later, Marco Verratti picked up his 14th yellow card of the season for a foul on Bellegarde.
Strasbourg made another change in the 76th minute as Kevin Gameiro was introduced for Ibrahima Sissoko.
It appears that was the decisive piece to the puzzle as Kevin Gameiro brought the game to parity two minutes after his introduction.
Gameiro ran into the penalty area and teed up Sanson whose instant attempt was saved by Donnarumma.
However, Gianluigi Donnarumma could not keep out the rebound from Kevin Gameiro who made an instant impact into the game.
Christophe Galtier seemed content with the result and he made his last substitution in the 84th minute bringing on Carlos Soler for Vitinha.
Following the entire duration of the game, Paris Saint Germain secured another Ligue 1 title into the kitty.
Even though they have had an average season by their lofty heights and standards. The Parisians would be happy to cap the campaign up with the French top-flight title.
Match Highlights Below:
