Paris St Germain slumped to a second defeat in three Ligue 1 games, losing 1-0 at 10-man Stade Reims yesterday as they prepared for their Champions League clash with Valencia in the worst possible way.

Grzegorz Krychowiak netted the only goal two minutes after team-mate Christopher Glombard was sent off on the hour.

PSG, who host Valencia in their last 16, second leg match on Wednesday having won 2-1 at the Mestalla, looked nothing like the side who handed out two 2-0 defeats to rivals Marseille in Ligue 1 and the French Cup in the past week.

This result sets the stage for a nailbiting run-in to the Ligue 1 season as Lyon can move level on points with PSG by winning at Stade Brest today.

Even against lowly teams, PSG like to play on the counter-attack, a philosophy that does not always produce dividends in their pursuit of a first league title since 1994.

Glombard was sent off after getting two yellow cards in 14 minutes but the home side continued to press and were rewarded when Krychowiak latched on to Mohamed Fofana’s downward header.

David Beckham, in his third PSG appearance since joining as a free agent on Jan. 31, replaced Marco Verratti four minutes later but his introduction did little to help PSG.