She delayed, but the reward arrived. Paris won against Real Madrid in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League on Tuesday February 15 (1-0). Like four days earlier against Rennes (1-0), the savior is called Kylian Mbappé. The French striker allowed the Parc des Princes to rejoice in added time by scoring the only goal of the game, all alone, like a grown-up.
Found by Neymar on the left side, he managed to sneak between Lucas Vazquez and Eder Militao to conclude victoriously with the right foot (90th + 4). All this, just in front of the Madrid fans who taunted the Park by cheering him on before kick-off, seeing him already wearing the colors of Real next season. A perfect and logical conclusion for the capital club.
IT’S OVER ! What an end game!
The victory before the return match in Madrid! #UCL | #PSGRM pic.twitter.com/GBaDJZCOwB
— Paris Saint Germain (@PSG_inside) February 15, 2022
Intelligent pressing, perfect defensive organization, investment of attacking players … Mauricio Pochettino’s team put all the ingredients together, Tuesday evening, to bring down the club with thirteen crowns in the Champions League. She best performance of the season deserved a victory. PSG has finished the game with seven times more shots than his opponent (21-3) and nearly 57% possession against the current La Liga leader.
The defensive progress observed since December has served. Paris has now conceded only three goals in its last eleven games in all competitions. Above all, Pochettino agreed to use a tactical device in 3-5-2, with Danilo sliding in the axis of the defense to allow the laterals to express their offensive naturalness, which observers have been asking for for many months. And it was a success (only 0.14 Expected Goals conceded on Tuesday evening).
But we must not lose sight of the fact that PSG did not go far from a goalless draw at home, which would have made them harbor great regrets. Before exulting, Paris had chained failures against Thibaut Courtois. The missed opportunities of Di Maria (5th), Mbappé (18th, 50th, 77th) and especially the missed penalty by Lionel Messi (62nd) would have left a very bitter taste in the preparation for the return match, scheduled for March 9 on hostile ground, to Madrid.
It is finally with a small but precious lead that the Parisians will travel to Santiago-Bernabéu in three weeks. And it is against a team that will be deprived of Casemiro and Ferland Mendy, warned Tuesday evening when they were under the threat of suspension, that they will try to rally the quarters.
First round victorious.
THIS IS PARIS pic.twitter.com/LV771fltYZ— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) February 15, 2022