On Wednesday, Paris Saint-Germain lost at home to Manchester City 1-2 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. The two teams were tied until Algerian international Riyad Mahrez scored the winning goal in the 71st minute of the match. The Parisian club faces a tough task in Manchester to secure passage to the final.
Paris Saint-Germain could not secure a victory in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals against their guest Manchester City, ending up defeated with a score of one to two. The home team initially took the lead with a goal from Brazilian Marquinhos (15'), but Manchester City equalized in the second half with a goal from Belgian Kevin De Bruyne (64') followed by Mahrez's goal (71'). The match also saw the sending off of PSG midfielder Idrissa Gueye in the 77th minute.
The return match will take place in Manchester next Tuesday, where City only needs a draw to reach the final for the first time in their history. The French capital club will rely on the second leg to earn a spot in the next round, a task that appears extremely difficult against the English team that managed to return home with a precious victory.
Guardiola commented on his team's performance, saying, "In the first half, we did not play as we are used to in this competition. Every time we lost the ball, the trio of Neymar, Mbappe, and Di Maria posed a danger." He added, "In the second half, we showed great fighting spirit when we didn’t have the ball. This allowed us to score two goals. We need to play with our identity in the second leg if we want to reach the final."
PSG, hoping to reach the final for the second consecutive year after losing last year to Bayern Munich 0-1, and subsequently eliminating the defending champions in the quarterfinals this season, needs to win by a margin of two goals or one goal if the score is higher than 2-1.
The match began with PSG taking the initiative, as Kylian Mbappe advanced the ball and passed it to Neymar, who shot straight at Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson (2'). PSG opened the scoring with Marquinhos, returning from injury, who headed in a corner taken by Argentine Ángel Di Maria to the right of Ederson (15'). According to Opta sports statistics, Marquinhos has scored five goals in his last 12 matches in the Champions League and became the third player in the history of the Champions League to score in consecutive quarter-finals and semi-finals, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann.
De Bruyne, an expert against PSG, nearly equalized for City in the 61st minute with an acrobatic effort from inside the box that went just over the bar. In the 64th minute, De Bruyne found relief when he delivered a high through ball from outside the box that went untouched by PSG defenders and hit the net past Navas.
Mahrez then delivered a second powerful blow to PSG with a free kick from near the edge of the box that was placed to the right of Navas (71'). PSG completed the last quarter of the match with ten players after Gueye was sent off for a rough tackle on German Ilkay Gundogan (77').
Foden almost added a third in the 87th minute but his shot was blocked by Navas. PSG's attempts in the remaining minutes did not result in a goal, handing them a defeat at home as they await the second leg in England.
PSG captain Marquinhos believes his team has what it takes to turn the tide in the return match, stating, "It’s true that we fell back into our defensive lines in the second half, while Manchester City showed great fighting spirit, which made it difficult." He added, "We need to be more stable throughout the two halves, and analyze the difficulties we faced. We struggled to keep possession and get out of our midfield to launch counterattacks." He concluded, "We have all the qualities to turn this around in the return match. We must go there armed with the will to win."
