Paris Saint-Germain snatched a draw at the last minute against Newcastle (1-1) on a penalty from Kylian Mbappé and remains in the race for qualification on Tuesday at the Parc des Princes. Led for a long time and ineffective, Paris takes 2nd place in its group, two points ahead of its evening opponent before going for the last day to Dortmund, already qualified after its victory on the pitch of AC Milan (1-3) .
⌛️ It’s over at the Park. Paris Saint-Germain snatches a point in added time and retains second place in Group F.
#PSGNEW 1️⃣-1️⃣ I #UCLpic.twitter.com/2fTno1G1qb
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) November 28, 2023
And faced with the “yellow wall”, PSG (2nd, 7 pts) will absolutely have to win, but will have its destiny in its hands. A crucial trip as an elimination at this stage of the premier competition would be a new disillusionment for Paris. And a first in the QSI era since 2011.
Mbappé muzzled
As in the first leg in the north of England (4-1), Kylian Mbappé captain Tuesday due to the withdrawal of Marquinhos, was perfectly muzzled by the Magpies defense. The French striker was discreet, often annoyed in particular by the referee’s decisions, called three times to the VAR for two contentious actions in the area. The third call was the right one when he whistled a penalty on a handball from Tino Livramento in the area (90+7).
It was not until the last minute that he scored from the penalty spot. Before that, he was uninspired, as when he was alone in the area and attempted an acrobatic and very complicated recovery on a shot from Ousmane Dembélé (57th), suspended from the next match after receiving a yellow card for a challenge .
Padlocked Parisians
The captain thought he would come back to score at the end of the match, but his cross shot was off target and skimmed the post (87th). PSG and its goalkeeper and Gigi Donnarumma, not very skillful with his hands on goal, cracked on one of Newcastle’s rare offensives (24th). The Italian goalkeeper poorly repelled Miguel Almiron’s shot to his right and his defenders did not follow, leaving Alexander Isak to score his first goal in C1 this season.
Almost invincible at the Parc des Princes, Luis Enrique’s men were willing and tried after starting the match well, but it was not enough. While they were intractable at home in the group stage – Dortmund (2-0) and Milan (3-0) paid the price – and the Magpies were fragile away, the Parisians were locked down.
Barcola unhappy
The beginnings of weeks are not like the ends. Under the eyes of Parisian goalkeeper Sergio Rico present at the Parc des Princes, six months after his serious horse riding accident and the president of PSG Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, the Parisians were less inspired than Friday against Monaco (5-2). “Let’s silence the skeptics” had nevertheless warned the Ultras of the Auteuil turn but in the Champions League, the music is not the same.
Even if Luis Enrique’s players regained rhythm with the entry of Vitinha and especially the young Bradley Barcola, who had several big chances (63rd, 65th, 67th, 90+1). The young Frenchman almost missed the goal in front of Nick Pope, who had a superb match. He managed to deflect a shot from the former Lyonnais, who already saw his shot in the goal. Just after, Barcola insisted but missed his low shot (67th).
The entry of Marco Asensio was not enough for PSG (90th, 90+3), which once again failed to completely celebrate, already spoiled by violence on Monday evening between supporters. Six radical PSG supporters, four of whom were on S registration, were placed in police custody in Paris, suspected of having wanted to “fight” with their English rivals.