"An unrivalled midfield": can Paris's trio surpass the legends of Barcelona and Real?
Paris Saint-Germain's midfield trio of Vitinha, Joao Neves and Fabian Ruiz were so good against Villarreal on Tuesday that the comparisons turned historical. The Parisians ran riot in the Champions League, winning 6-0.
That scoreline put the spotlight back on a midfield that does far more than dominate. This trio dictates the tempo and makes life easy for everyone around them. Little wonder, then, that the "After Foot" programme on France's "RMC" radio asked where this three ranks among the greatest midfields the game has ever seen.
Finding fresh words for what Paris are producing is hard. This side has turned the exceptional into the routine through sheer quality and harmony. So the analysis reached for historical comparisons, with the programme devoting plenty of airtime to the trio who did so much to engineer the stroll in Spain.
Between them, the three midfielders scored half of Paris's goals. Fabian Ruiz struck twice after Joao Neves had opened the scoring. Their influence went well beyond the goals, though, stretching to total control of the tempo and a collective dominance that left Villarreal chasing shadows.
An exceptional place in football history: on one condition!
Jean-Louis Tourre, editor-in-chief of the football section at "RMC Sport", reckons Paris's midfield is the best in the world right now. Keep this level up for long enough, he believes, and its players could even carve out a special place in football history.
Tourre said: "When we assess a match for Paris Saint-Germain, we must start with the trio in the midfield, for they are the ones who make the entire match easy."
He added: "When you place alongside them exceptional players such as Doué or Hakimi, they make everyone around them better. And with these players, you can bring on the youngsters, carry out rotation, and rest the key players in other positions, because you have pillars among the best players in the world in their positions."
He went on: "There is no one who matches them in the world, and I believe that even in the history of football, there will not be many like them if they maintain this level of performance for a long period."
Legendary figures at Barcelona, Real Madrid, United and Milan
The journalist named no direct rivals to the Parisian trio, but any debate over the greatest midfields in history conjures up the Barcelona three who dominated the late 2000s and early 2010s: Xavi Hernández, Sergio Busquets and Andrés Iniesta, according to the report by RMC itself.
He went on: "Football has also seen other historic examples, such as Real Madrid's midfield led by Zinedine Zidane (along with Figo and Makélélé) in 2002, the Milan side that included Gennaro Gattuso, Rivaldo, Andrea Pirlo and Clarence Seedorf, as well as Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson, with Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs."
Nunes explains the reasons for the dominance: does Paris instil fear in its opponents?
João Neves, for his part, played down any comparisons with the game's legends. He explained what gives Paris this dominance in midfield and rejected the idea that the team strikes fear into its opponents.
Asked how much opponents fear Paris, the Portugal international said: "I don't think so. We have shown that we want to play with the ball, to run everywhere, and to defend in the best possible way." He added: "When you don't have much space or enough time to deal with the ball, playing becomes more difficult. We rely on a high press, and you know how constantly we move when we have the ball. These are things we try to carry out."
