PSG have the happy defeat against Bayern Munich

Too bad for the barrier gestures, the players of Paris-Saint-Germain had the happy defeat on Tuesday, April 13. Hence this irrepressible desire to exchange hugs, hugs or more manly shoulders like a Neymar who came to distract an Angel Di Maria focused on his interview. Among its many charms, the concept of a return match sometimes offers the quirky spectacle of the vanquished far from embarrassed. dance on the changing room tables and sprinkle mineral water, provided there is the intoxication of qualification.

Relive the match: Paris eliminates European champions and climbs to semi-finals

Beaten 1-0 by Bayern Munich at the Parc des Princes in Paris, but victorious at the Allianz Arena six days earlier (3-2), PSG qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League to the benefit the number of goals scored away from home, a subtlety of the almost anachronistic rule when the camera makes the advantage of playing in front of the home crowd abstract.

Vexed, Bayern had promised a party in Paris. We have to rewind the pre-match words of Joshua Kimmich, no more bothered with the words than with the ball: ” Because we are the best team, I am convinced that we will pass », Announced the midfielder, engine of the Bavarian domination in the first leg.

The Parisians preferred not to raise. On Monday, at a press conference, coach Mauricio Pochettino alternated the formulas agreed in Spanish with some platitudes in English. The Argentinian said little, but always politely. Sometimes, he plunges journalists and club followers into an unexpected nostalgia for his predecessor, the more theatrical Thomas Tuchel (dominated by Porto on the same score, but qualified with Chelsea too).

Eye to eye

The pitch has another truth to offer and the calm of the former Tottenham manager is starting to infuse his players. Sometimes at the break, the Parisians never gave in to panic as in the recent and cumbersome past.

” The ghosts “ – to use a word recently out of the mouth of sporting director Leonardo – were not lacking with these nasty comebacks against Chelsea, Barcelona or Manchester United in recent years, after first matches negotiated under the boss.

Better, this PSG always suspect of “cramping” in the decisive moments, looked the European champion in the eyes to erase the memory of the defeat of Lisbon in the final of the last Champions League (1-0), the 23 August 2020.

Neymar and his teammates have left control of the game to Bayern, but this time within acceptable and manageable limits – unlike Keylor Navas’ game of snowball and bursts of shots at the cages of Keylor Navas at the Allianz Arena. .

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