It is in-keeping with Paris Saint-Germain's largely forgettable season that even a 2-1 win away at AJ Auxerre featuring a quick-fire Kylian Mbappe brace with a Lionel Messi assist is not enough to secure the Ligue 1 title with two rounds of games remaining in France.
RC Lens' 3-1 victory away at FC Lorient just hours earlier on Sunday meant that Christophe Galtier and his players knew that there was no way that three points at Stade de l'Abbe Deschamps would be enough to officially secure an 11th French title for the visitors.
In a campaign when PSG have failed to perform when needed and performed well with nothing at stake, it was not surprising to see Mbappe score twice in as many minutes inside the opening minutes -- as if Les Parisiens' historic confirmation was actually at stake.
The capital outfit even did their best to throw it away in the second half with Lassine Sinayoko pulling one back for Auxerre just six minutes into the half through a thoroughly self-inflicted goal which embarrassed both Sergio Ramos and Gianluigi Donnarumma.
PSG saw it out for the remainder of the second half and struggled in parts against Christophe Pelissier's relegation battlers which pretty much sums up this term for the French titleholders who have long since been out of both the UEFA Champions League and the Coupe de France.
"We got sloppy after our two early goals," said captain Marquinhos after the game. "We should not be doing that. We put ourselves in danger as 2-0 is often a hazardous position in soccer. They scored and grew stronger as they chased the draw. We held on which was good, but we are not champions yet. We have one hand on the trophy and we are perhaps one more game away from having both on it."
2 - Kylian Mbappé has scored two goals in two minutes and 14 seconds, the second fastest brace of his career after the 2022 FIFA World Cup final with 🇫🇷 against Argentina (1 minute and 35 seconds). LuckyLuke. #AJAPSG pic.twitter.com/RF9khxECv4
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) May 21, 2023
"My players have a hand on the trophy, but we still need to finish well," added Galtier. "It has been a difficult season and although we had a very complicated post-World Cup, being champions is still a great achievement."
There is little doubt that PSG will get this latest Ligue 1 title over the line but it is the drawn-out manner of it that is so underwhelming when you consider how certain it looked before the FIFA 2022 World Cup interrupted an unbeaten start to the season.
Messi's internal suspension and punishment was a brief flicker of excitement in an otherwise dull final few months and even the legendary Argentine coming back into the fold and assisting Mbappe for his second goal here and Messi's 20th assist of the campaign feels simply academic.
In craving Champions League success above all else, PSG have lessened the importance on truly historic achievements -- such as this year's domestic title to finally pull clear of AS Saint-Etienne -- which has created this unhappy procession which will now drag on for an extra week at least.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 success is as good as confirmed with a six-point advantage and a goal difference cushion of +16 heading into the two final rounds of games -- two heavy defeats coupled with two big wins for Lens qualifies as unlikely despite PSG having already fallen foul of a goal swing in the Champions League group stage.
This landmark Championnat win will only likely be confirmed in Strasbourg next week, so not even at PSG's Parc des Princes home which might now have a few dedicated fans in it to celebrate after the club and its ultras ended their recent little feud which lasted days rather than months.
All of this should be testament to a brilliant Lens side being able to remain within sight of the leaders right up until the final few games yet such a poor iteration of PSG still finishing at the summit is damning for what has actually been a very competitive Ligue 1 campaign overall.
