Real Madrid had traveled to Paris with a single slogan: resist. And he did it for 93 minutes. But the game lasted 94. A goal from Kylian Mbappé at the break served to dismantle the white defense and give Paris Saint-Germain the lead in the round of 16 of the Champions League (1-0). A goal that did justice to what had been seen on the field of play, although it was insufficient to close the tie. The Bernabéu will rule three weeks from now.
It was a defeat in the Champions League, but a defeat for the minimum. And somehow the whites celebrated it, seeing as how the match had gone. Karim Benzema was not 100% and Ancelotti, when planning the match, preferred to organize a rocky team in defense that was limited to looking for the speed of Vinicius to disturb the goal of PSG. For whites, it was almost more valuable not to fit in than to score at home. And more so this year, where the rule that gave double value to goals on the opposing field has been removed.
But surely the Madrid coach did not expect PSG to dominate the game so strongly, to the point that he got to pass over his players. Only the defensive solvency of men like Militao, Alaba, Mendy and Casemiro, and the majestic performance of Courtois under the posts, prevented local superiority from being translated into a thrashing. Benzema did not exist, Vinicius never left in speed and two key pieces in the middle of the field as Modric and Kroos went completely unnoticed.
Messi misses a penalty
Neymar, who reappeared following an injury, did not play from the start. The Brazilian came in with twenty minutes left and PSG started to get nervous, because he attacked and attacked but did not score any goals. Until then, Mbappé and Messi carried the weight of the local attack. The French striker, who has all the numbers to play in Madrid next season, showed his physical potential, but he had lacked aim in the shots. More or less the same as Messi, who for dessert saw Courtois stop a penalty.
Pochettino only made two changes, while Ancelotti tried to shake the team by bringing in Lucas, Rodrygo, Hazard, Valverde and Bale. Nothing changed much. Until the goal, the locals had fifteen clear chances. In five of these, the Belgian goalkeeper from Madrid made stops of great merit. Donnarumma on the other hand, had a terrible day. It is also true, however, that PSG often fell into individual action, giving up collective attacks in exchange for handing balls to strikers. Plays that, when they wanted to finish them, they did it in an area populated with soccer players who blocked shots and covered passing lines. Madrid didn’t care to play a little showy game. I was just looking at the marker. And they were regarding to achieve their goal.
In the Parc dels Príncipes, everyone rubbed their eyes to see how PSG finished the game without scoring a single goal. And, resigned, they began to leave the stadium thinking that this was not their night. Until what PSG had been looking for throughout the match appeared: a genius from one of its franchise players. With Messi and Neymar far from the goal, Mbappé caught the ball on the far left. It looked like the attack, the last of the match, would be harmless. Until he started to face, cut and find a shot option. A powerful cross shot that struck Courtois. This time, not even his reflexes prevented the ball from entering the back of the goal.
Casemiro and Mendy, sanctioned
Despite the defeat, Real Madrid took the 1-0 lead because it arrives alive at the Bernabéu and has the appeal of the mystique of its stadium, the Bernabéu, to go round. But the whites, who are confident of having fully recovered in Benzema, will have two very important casualties behind them: Casemiro and Mendy, who saw the yellow card and will have to play a penalty match.
City beat Sporting (0-5)
Manchester City proved in Lisbon that they are one of the top favorites to win this edition of the Champions League. The team coached by Pep Guardiola beat Sporting (0-5) in a game that had already been sentenced at halftime.
City had just eight minutes left to open the scoring, with a Mahrez shot. It was thanks to the VAR, who corrected the assistant and validated the position of Kevin de Bruyne, who was in line with the defense in the action of the first goal. The sky blue team, which came out on the field for all, did not lift the foot of the accelerator throughout the first half. An overwhelming dominance once morest a rival who did not know how to get water out of the boat. From 0-1, the goals fell by themselves. Bernardo Silva, on two occasions, and Foden, made the game 0-4 at halftime.
In the second half, with all the sentences, the City was dedicated to dominating the ball and to avoid unnecessary wear and tear. Still, Sterling rounded off the party with a goal from the corner.
