The situation was very clear for Paris Saint-Germain. Before the start of the sixth and final day of the group stage of the Champions League, the capital club had a 67.4% chance of qualifying for the round of 16. Second in the Group F standings, three points behind Borussia Dortmund and two ahead of the Newcastle-AC Milan duo, Paris was sure to have a great evening by winning at Signal Iduna Park since a victory gave him guaranteed first place. On the other hand, any other result made the Rouge et Bleu dependent on the Newcastle-AC Milan match to hope to qualify. Clearly, if they drew, the Magpies should not win. And in the event of defeat in Germany, Toons and Rossoneri had to neutralize each other.
Without too much surprise, the Parisians began the meeting with a high block. But on the other hand, BVB was determined to eliminate PSG from the competition. Aggressive towards the Rouge et Bleu in the media, the Marsupials were also aggressive on the field by playing on their strong point: speed. Marco Reus’ partners often moved to the left side of the Ile-de-France defense, forcing Bradley Barcola to come and lend a hand to Lucas Hernandez. In vain, the BVB reached the edge of the opponent’s area very easily. Result: Reus (10th) and Wolf (13th) created the first big dangers in front of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s goal. Dominated in terms of ball possession, Paris should have taken the lead.
PSG harvested a lot
After a good shot from Vitinha repelled by Kobel (12th) and a big miss from Kang-in Lee (16th), the French champions created several huge golden opportunities. Starting with Kylian Mbappé. The Bondynois had managed to eliminate the opposing goalkeeper and thought he could score in the goal. This was without counting on a miraculous rescue from Süle (17th). On the following corner Milan Skriniar saw his attempt rejected (18th) and two minutes later, Kobel’s left post frustrated Barcola’s curling shot (20th). An incredible series of failures in which Randal Kolo Muani participated. Launched in depth, the former Nantais player resisted the defenders and thought he could beat Kobel with an outside right foot, but it went just wide (24th). Harvesting so much in the Champions League is not allowed and without a big save from Donnarumma on a shot from Reus (26th) and a low header from Hummels (45th), Paris could have been behind at the break.
When we returned from the locker room, things got worse. Undoubtedly aware of Newcastle’s opening score against Milan in the first period (which virtually eliminated PSG), the Parisians sank when they conceded the first goal of the match. On yet another attempt at a short restart close to its goal instead of clearing the ball very far, Paris was punished. After Achraf Hakimi lost the ball, Füllkrug served Adeyemi perfectly for the 1-0 (52nd). At that moment, PSG was more than ever condemned to the Europa League. The disaster scenario, however, only lasted seven minutes. Time for Warren Zaire-Emery to equalize on a cross from Mbappé (56th) and for AC Milan to do the same at St James’ Park with Pulisic (59th). Paris regained its second place. A joy which, however, almost was short-lived if Donnarumma had not made another decisive save, this time against Malen (62nd). An unbreathable atmosphere in which the Ile-de-France residents believed they had achieved the feat when Mbappé came to crucify Kobel on Hakimi caviar. Unfortunately for the Bondynois, he was offside (76th). The Parisians then went through all the emotions. After this false joy, they saw Rafa Leão find the post in Newcastle, before the goal of the deliverance of Chukwueze (84th). With this second Milan goal, Paris assured its qualification (with the particular goal difference with the Rossneri) and simply had to avoid losing to BVB. And at this moment of the match, the Rouge et Bleu clearly did not seek to snatch first place in the group from BVB, despite the dangers announced in the draw for the eighth (Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, Atlético among others). After a complicated group stage, Paris was satisfied with this draw, synonymous with second place. And everyone was happy.
Relive the match film
