Paris Saint-Germain's Layvin Kurzawa controls the ball during their Ligue 1 match against Lorient at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France on Wednesday.
Paris: Paris Saint-Germain's obsession with Europe is seriously backfiring at home.
Heading into the winter break, the defending champion is already playing catch up and lags five points behind surprise league leader Nice.
Some contrast from last season, when PSG crushed all the competition for a second straight domestic treble.
The reason for the sharp change in fortunes can be directly attributed to a baffling managerial change.
Despite winning the league by a record 31 points, with his team netting 102 goals, Laurent Blanc was sacked for failing to get past the Champions League quarterfinals.
European glory has been Qatari owners QSI's dream since it took over the club in June, 2011. Blanc fell short of their lofty expectations and he was replaced in the summer by Unai Emery, who had led Sevilla to three straight Europa League titles. But Emery has struggled to adapt and this has opened the door wide open for Monaco and Nice. PSG faces a major fight to successfully defend the title it won so easily.
All the pressure is on Paris Saint-Germain, which needs to get its title bid going but also faces Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Monaco has shown that it can outscore any team in Europe's top leagues — netting a whopping 56 in 19 games — but Prince Albert's favorite side is prone to occasional lapses in defense.
Nice's bid for a first title since 1971 may be aided by the fact that is has no European football left to play, having been knocked out of the Europa League. Nice also plays at home to PSG in the second part of the season.
Mario Balotelli has done very well for Nice with eight league goals in nine games and Monaco striker Radamel Falcao is getting somewhere back this best following two miserable seasons on the back of a serious knee injury.
But it is hard to overlook how impressive Edinson Cavani has been for Paris Saint-Germain.
Now that he is out of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's shadow, and finally playing in his preferred central striker's role, Cavani has been scoring freely.
He has 24 overall for a PSG side that would probably not even be in the top three if not for his goals. Cavani is carrying PSG this season.
Attacking midfielder Thomas Lemar and 17-year-old winger Kylian Mbappe have really stood out for Monaco, likewise central midfielder Wylan Cyprien and striker Alassane Plea for Nice.
Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery has everything to prove — although he might not even get the chance if the club's owners lose patience.
Emery has already lost as many games (four) as PSG did in all competitions last season under Laurent Blanc, and Wednesday night's 5-0 win against a truly awful Lorient side does not paper over the evident cracks.
PSG has won only one of eight games when it has trailed this season and the defense, so tight last season, has been leaking goals with alarming ease: Seven conceded in three matches prior to the Lorient game. PSG's stuttering title challenge resumes on January 14 with a tough away trip to Rennes.
