Champions League: disillusionment of the Parisians against Manchester City

This Wednesday, April 28, during the second semi-final of the Champions League, PSG received Manchester City at the Parc des Princes. The club of the capital, after a catastrophic second half, loses (2-1) against the men of Guardiola on this semi-final first leg. Kevin de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez responded to Marquinhos' first goal in the first half. The Skyblues therefore take a serious option for qualification to the final. For its part, PSG will have to achieve a feat next Tuesday in Manchester to qualify for its second consecutive C1 final.

Two totally different halves

After eliminating FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain advanced, complete, sure of its strengths against Manchester City, this Tuesday night in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League. In the first half, Paris was deprived of balls but operated very well in quick transitions. They manage to create chances for themselves and endanger the men of the genius Guardiola. PSG is rewarded for its very good start to the match thanks to a header from Marquinhos (15th) on a corner by the Argentine Di Maria. It should be noted that Marquinhos has just scored goals in the quarter-finals and semi-finals over two consecutive years. Only Antoine Griezmann and Cristiano Ronaldo had previously achieved this feat. In the first half, City didn't really get into their game. From an offensive point of view, the Skyblues lacked speed and inspiration in the attacking phases. Defensively, the Citizens were too lax, with a lack of aggressiveness that gave too much space to the Parisian players. They had a very good first half but left a lot of energy on the pitch. Verratti and Di Maria ran extremely well to support the full-backs Florenzi and Bakker. The Parisians also made a very big pressing that put Manchester City in difficulty. This first half is considered one of the most successful in the QSI era. In the second half, it's not the same story at all. Pochettino's men will pay for their debauchery of energy in the first 45 minutes. Add to that, Manchester City come back with much better intentions. More accuracy in the passes, more automatisms, more aggressiveness that clearly endanger the Parisians. The latter are unable to play on their strengths. Mbappe and Neymar are difficult to find. For the first time in his career in the LDC, the player from Bondy did not shoot in this match. Guardiola won the tactical battle, blocking the Parisians' weapons as much as possible. City are rewarded for their change of face, thanks to two goals that PSG could have avoided. Dominating but uninspired in front, the Mancunians equalized on a Kevin De Bruyne centre that nobody touched in the box and surprised Navas (64th). Behind, Mahrez gives the advantage to the Skyblues by piercing the Parisian wall on a free kick in the axis (71st). Just before Gueye was sent off for a violent tackle on Gündogan (77th). Second red card on this campaign of LDC for the Senegalese. We saw that with Arbeloa in 2013-2014. Disastrous second half for Pochettino's men. In the end, City made a big move in the race to the final, especially with their two goals scored away. But as Neymar would say in a press conference, PSG only lost one battle. The feat is possible. For this, it is imperative to find another game plan. Pochettino cannot count on the over-revving of these players again.

Reactions from Guardiola and Pochettino

Guardiola (Man City): "playing football, with personality"

Pep Guardiola, the Catalan coach of Manchester City, obviously had a smile at the microphone of RMC when speaking.

"We started very well in the first few minutes but we took this goal quickly. We didn't play the way you have to play in this competition, with slackness. It's not easy against PSG because every time you lose the ball, there is Di Maria, Neymar, Mbappé who start. Then we were more aggressive, more intense in the second half with the ball and that's why we were able to turn it well. And that's why we come back to Manchester with a good result. At half-time, we didn't say much to the players. We told them to play football, with personality, that's all."

PSG's Pochettino: "The details made the difference tonight"

The Argentine coach spoke at a press conference after this match:

"It's football, sometimes it's not easy. I'm not going to say anything bad about my players you know. The efforts were fantastic but it was details that decided the match. We didn't concede many chances either. The details made the difference tonight, said the former Tottenham technician, who spoke about the rest and a possible qualification in the final. Of course, we believe in it! You can do something special there, you have to believe in it. If we don't believe it, obviously it won't work. We will now prepare for this second leg and we want to start the match as we started here. »

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