Paris has finally found the fault and can celebrate its hero. PSG won on the wire against Real Madrid on Tuesday in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League (1-0). Dominating against Merengue withdrawn in defense, the Parisians have long stumbled on the opposing wall and its last rampart Thibaut Courtois.
The Belgian goalkeeper even repelled a penalty from Lionel Messi (62nd). However, he lost after additional time against the inevitable Kylian Mbappé (90th + 4). Paris takes an option before the return match in three weeks.
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If the people of Madrid wanted to take control of the ball in the first minutes, they quickly had to retreat against more lively and more biting Parisians. Mbappé quickly got into action on the left to dribble Dani Carvajal for the first time and serve Angel Di Maria who nevertheless missed his recovery in front of the six meters (5th). Sharp and decided, the Frenchman made his direct opponent suffer and returned to the charge on an opening from Messi but could only come up against Courtois (18th).
The Parisian side Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes evolved very high and the young Portuguese also gave work to the opposing goalkeeper (23rd). Installed in the visitors’ camp for almost the entire first period, the active Marco Verratti and his partners did not however manage to unblock the situation before the break. Karim Benzema, holder at the forefront of the Merengue attack, had then seen very little of the ball.
Courtois on fire but ultimately beaten
Carlo Ancelotti’s players only fired their first shot just before half-time with a header from Casemiro, from a corner, which went past the cage of Gigio Donnarumma, preferred to Keylor Navas. The Italian goalkeeper had almost nothing to do in this European evening. Quite the opposite of Courtois who signed a superb save by diving to his right to repel a powerful shot from Mbappé at the penalty spot (50th). The Red Devil won again in the middle of its surface in front of the French and Mendes (53rd).
Carvajal shoved Mbappé into the truth zone and Messi came on to convert the penalty. The imperial Courtois however refused to crack and relaxed perfectly on his left to divert the razing penalty from the Argentinian (62nd). He was also often well protected by a rigorous and supportive rear guard. After three months of absence, Neymar came into play at the start of the last quarter of an hour (73rd) and quickly obtained an excellent axial free kick that Messi sent next to the target (75th).
The Brazilian still brought an extra dose of percussion and inspiration to the Parisian attack. Mbappé missed the frame with nothing after one of his corners (78th). Real Madrid, which did not target any of its three small shots in this meeting, thought it would leave the Parc des Princes without cracking. However, he did it on the last of 21 Parisian attempts, the 8th on target, when Mbappé passed between Eder Militao and Lucas Vazquez to shoot between the legs of Courtois, finally beaten (1-0, 90th + 4). PSG logically won in this first round. He will have to show such a conquering face on March 9 at the Santiago Bernabeu to continue his European journey.
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