It’s a sigh of relief for Parisian supporters. Despite their draw (1-1) against Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain took advantage of AC Milan’s victory against Newcastle (1-2) to qualify for the round of 16 of the Champions League. Clumsy in front of the goal, Luis Enrique’s men did not miss opportunities to secure victory and first place in Group F.
Warren Zaire-Emery as savior
They finished second in the group behind BVB, without necessarily going for first place in the final minutes of the match. They therefore narrowly avoided the worst in the bustling atmosphere of the BVB’s den, the Westfalenstadion, in front of more than 81,000 spectators and facing the “yellow wall”. And kept away, at least for a few months, the crisis that would have been caused by such an early elimination.
While they were virtually eliminated until Milan equalized (1-1, 59th), it was Warren Zaire-Emery, 17 years and 280 days old, the youngest French scorer in the Champions League according to statistician Opta , who sounded the revolt, by scoring his fourth goal of the season (56th). He equalized with a low shot, served by Kylian Mbappé. An essential goal, because it was the BVB players who opened the scoring five minutes earlier thanks to Karim Adeyemi (51st), following a short restart error.
The young French midfielder, returning from injury after being injured in the ankle with the Blues, succeeded where the trio of Parisian attackers failed: Kylian Mbappé, Randal Kolo Muani and Bradley Barcola were clumsy, a goal of the Bondy star was refused for offside (76th). Especially in the first half, where they had too many missed opportunities: Niklas Süle’s magnificent save (17th), Barcola’s shot which found the post (20th), Gregor Kobel’s saves (12th, 45th).
The three Frenchmen each missed their turn as they created space and often outpaced the BVB defense. Failures which were reminiscent of the numerous misses in the return match against Newcastle (1-1) at the Parc des Princes two weeks earlier. According to Opta, Paris SG had a 67.4% chance of qualifying for the round of 16 of the Champions League. It’s now done, but they went through the back door, with nothing.
A solid Donnarumma in its cages
Finishing third in the group, and being transferred to the Europa League, would have been a thunderbolt and a sporting and financial failure for the Parisians. On the line, Luis Enrique’s players flirted for many minutes with elimination, a first so early in the competition under the Qatari era. For this crucial match under the eyes of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and some 3,000 supporters who made the trip to Dortmund, it also took a great Gigio Donnarumma, who had accumulated several errors over three matches. On Wednesday evening, he repeatedly saved his teammates, who had caused class disruptions.
Trailing by the score, they did not sink mentally. A quality that PSG had lacked since the start of the European season. Especially when he plays away, suffering two defeats: 4-1 against Newcastle at St James’ Park and 2-1 against AC Milan at San Siro “We have the character to qualify. If I hadn’t “No, I wouldn’t be here, I would have stayed at home. Everyone is ready to play a great match. Our destiny is in our hands,” Marquinhos warned on Tuesday, solid but almost guilty of an error on a restart.
Even if the future of Luis Enrique did not seem to condition the result in C1, there is no doubt that an elimination so early in the season would have plunged PSG into depression and crisis, even though Mbappé is free to sign in a new club in 2024.