Not to miss out at the Parc des Princes to avoid a decisive final day, such was the mission of Luis Enrique’s men this Tuesday evening, with the reception of Newcastle. And also take revenge on the first leg, which had exposed glaring weaknesses (4-1 defeat in England). For this, the Spanish coach rotated his squad compared to the match against Monaco, with the tenure of Danilo, Lee and Kolo-Muani. Newcastle, for its part, was penalized by numerous absences. And it showed, especially from the usual side of Dan Burn, dominating in the first leg and replaced by Livramento this Tuesday evening. Dembélé and Hakimi eagerly rushed into the right lane and very quickly created goal-scoring situations (4th, 9th). And the weaknesses of PSG? One of them is the quality of Donnarumma’s recovery, which was close to leading to a goal from Isak (12th).
This cooled Parisian enthusiasm, and Newcastle began to gain confidence. The proof ? Livramento wandered around the edge of the area, without anyone intervening. He calmly shifted Almiron, whose curling shot was only repelled by Donnarumma, at the feet of Isak, who was happy to take advantage of it to open the score (0-1, 22nd). A big cold snap at the Parc des Princes, and a disaster scenario. PSG could no longer get out of the opposing pressure, and offered too much technical waste to destabilize the opposing rearguard. Only Dembélé seemed capable of creating differences with the ball, like a furious breakthrough (32nd). But it was without any real thrill that the break was whistled.
PSG without ideas
Returning from the locker room, PSG still came up against the opposing midfielder, regrouped and perfectly in place. Mbappé, barely visible this evening, missed his acrobatic return from the penalty spot (55th), and it was Newcastle who enjoyed the spaces vacated by PSG. Luis Enrique launched his coaching on the hour mark by bringing in Vitinha and Barcola in place of Ugarte and Kolo Muani. The 4-3-3 did not move, and the Parisians had difficulty offering anything other than lateral play, condemned by a lack of technical accuracy in the final meters. The capital club was unable to gain momentum, and they had to wait for a first burst from Mbappé and a cross towards Barcola, who did not finish, the fault of an exceptional save from Pope (66th).
Barcola favored the individual solution immediately, on a new caviar from Mbappé (67th). Then Hakimi collapsed in the area following contact with Gordon (69th), but the referee did not whistle. PSG finally put real pressure on the Magpies’ goal, more united than ever. But after these 3 slightly crazy minutes, PSG fell back into ball circulation without taking any risks. Asensio returned to the competition, replacing Lee, then Ramos replaced Danilo. Luis Enrique went for everything, and Mbappé offered himself a double opportunity from a tight angle (87th). Then Barcola missed a third opportunity (90+1st), right in front of the goal… But the miracle took place at the very end of meeting, on a rather generous penalty awarded by the referee, which Mbappé transformed without trembling (90+7th). How laborious it was. And you shouldn’t miss the last day on the pitch at Borussia Dortmund. And it will be without Ousmane Dembélé, suspended…
The standings for the group stage of the Champions League
