PSG announced today the departure of Farid Benstiti. The Paris coach, suspended after the defeat against Lyon in the Champions League, was notified of the non-renewal of his contract after four seasons spent at the head of the Paris team.

Predictably, it was probably after the match against La Roche-sur-Yon: Farid Benstiti is no longer PSG coach. Since the defeat against Lyon, the last two exchanges in mixed zone with the Paris coach had given rise to discussions, where the future of the club was discussed more in the third, than in the first person, as if the coach knew already that his fate was sealed.

Farid Benstiti here during the match against Juvisy last December. It will be against this same Juvisy team that Benstiti will lead the PSG for the last time, May 21 next in Charlety. Photo: Nelson Fatagraf

In his Progress interview yesterday morning, Benstiti talks about a "proposal for a contract extension" that he would have "pushed back" "at the beginning of the year", a way of putting his non-renewal of contract back into a more global, that something is not working at PSG. The Paris coach said in the same interview, he would have contacts abroad: China, Russia or NWSL.

A new cycle?

This end of the contract inevitably raises more general questions about the state of PSG and its women's team. At the beginning of February, during the return leg of the championship against Lyon (0-0 at Charlety), Jessica Houara d'Hommeaux evoked the need for "time" and "continuity" for PSG and that "the means" are not the the only factor that counts. A speech regularly repeated by the players, but that will probably shatter this summer with the announced launch of a "new cycle" for the club.

Princes Park. Farid Benstiti during the warm-up of the semi-final return of Champions League against Lyon. A semifinal that probably sealed the fate of the Parisian coach. Photo: Nelson Fatagraf

But who will be the embodiment of this new cycle? Both on the ground and on the bench. This is the question posed by the future ex-Paris coach at the end of the match against La Roche-sur-Yon last Wednesday. One way to say that his eviction would solve no problem, while being aware that it was no longer possible to continue to head the team of the capital.

The end of the season PSG represents the end of a loop started early in the season, where the club had started very badly, with a severe defeat at Gerland against OL and 0-0 conceded at Camp des Loges against Montpellier, who placed Paris in third place in the standings. An agitated start to the season, which sparked mood movements among the fans, who put Benstiti in charge of this bad start this season.

The 2015/2016 financial year finally ended (although it remains the derby against Juvisy) as it had begun, with a rout in Lyon and a poor performance against Montpellier, with a penalty elimination in the Cup of Nations. La France.

The Lyon complex
The break seemed inevitable after the defeat in the Champions League against Olympique Lyonnais. But the end of contract of Farid Benstiti can not represent the only answer for the Parisian club if he wants to raise the head after a season marked by the supremacy Lyonnaise, who has not conceded any goal against the PSG in four confrontations this season .

Shirley Cruz and Saki Kumagai during the 0-0 between PSG and OL last February. The best PSG result against OL this season. Photo: Nelson Fatagraf

A Lyon performance that came after the shock last year of the elimination in the 1/8 final of the Champions League against the same PSG who achieved perhaps his best season in the league and this final (of course lost) in the Champions League against Frankfurt. A season later, Lyon has washed away the affront and is positioning itself to establish its supremacy both in France and in Europe.

For PSG, a "new cycle" would necessarily mean leaving this complex vis-à-vis Lyon, even if the Rhodaniennes will necessarily stay one step ahead of the club of the capital. This is certainly what transpires in recent weeks in post-match reactions on the Paris side. A task of magnitude but which will necessarily be in good place in the objectives of the future Parisian coach.