Paris Saint Germain (PSG) Archives

PSG defeat Le Havre to extend lead over Lens at top of Ligue 1

Bradley Barcola scored, and Desire Doue had a penalty saved as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) held on for a 1-0 win away to Le Havre on Saturday to extend their lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table to four points.

PSG were looking to take advantage of another slip-up by title rivals Lens, who were held to a 1-1 draw away at Strasbourg on Friday to go two games without a win.

Luis Enrique’s side duly got the job done with Barcola heading in from a Lee Kang-in cross on 37 minutes for his ninth goal of the season.

It was not a full-strength PSG, with Ousmane Dembele again out injured along with Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves, while skipper Marquinhos was among the players rested.

Doue came off the bench in the second half and won a penalty with just over 10 minutes remaining, but his kick was kept out by Le Havre goalkeeper Mory Diaw diving to his right. PSG have converted only five of their 10 spot-kicks this season.

Diaw also produced a fine reaction save from Nuno Mendes while PSG goalkeeper Matfei Safonov made a key stop to deny Issa Soumare at the other end.

“There are no nice and easy games for PSG because every match is important. We need to get players back and improve because we have less confidence than usual at the moment,” said Luis Enrique.

The reigning European champions are gearing up for a Champions League last-16 tie against Chelsea and have now won nine out of 10 Ligue 1 games played since the start of December.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

“It is the first time we have had a four-point gap at the top, so this is a time for us to be happy. It was important to get the win here,” added the coach.

Elsewhere in France on Saturday, Rennes made it two wins out of two under new coach Franck Haise as they beat Toulouse 1-0 in Brittany thanks to Arnaud Nordin’s first-half goal.

Monaco got back on track after losing to PSG in their Champions League play-off tie as USA star Folarin Balogun and Simon Adingra scored in a 2-0 win over Angers.

Balogun, who is expected to be a key player for the United States at the World Cup, now has 12 goals this season in all competitions, including four in his last four games.

Marseille, in fourth play host to third-placed Lyon on Sunday in a key game in the fight for Champions League qualification.

Pablo Longoria left his position as Marseille president on Saturday evening, the Spaniard departing after five years to be replaced on an interim basis by Alban Juster.

Longoria’s departure comes amid a period of turbulence at the 1993 European champions, who saw coach Roberto De Zerbi leave just under three weeks ago in the wake of a 5-0 defeat away to PSG and their elimination from the Champions League.

De Zerbi has been replaced in the dugout by Habib Beye. Director of football Medhi Benatia recently announced he was stepping down, before it was confirmed he would stay on until the end of the season at the club owned by US tycoon Frank McCourt.

READ: Asian football postpones club knockouts after US, Israel strikes

PSG stunned by Botafogo in Club World Cup upset

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) suffered a shock 1-0 Club World Cup defeat against Brazilian side Botafogo on Thursday in a hardfought battle between the reigning champions of Europe and South America.

A first-half goal from Brazilian international Igor Jesus proved the difference as Botafogo all but sealed a place in the knockout rounds in front of a 53,699 crowd at the Pasadena Rose Bowl.

French champions PSG are widely regarded as one of the favourites for FIFA’s 32-team tournament after a dazzling season which culminated with a scintillating 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in the Champions League final last month.

But their hopes of securing a victory which would have seen them become the first side to reach the last 16 were stymied by a resilient performance from their opponents from Rio de Janeiro.

“A lot of people wondered, but we showed how strong Botafogo is,” goalscorer Jesus said after the win. “It was a difficult game, and we had to defend well, and we did our job and scored a goal.

“We’re really happy — we knew how important this game was. One team was the champion of the Champions League, the other team was the champion of South America,” added Jesus.

Earlier this year, Jesus was strongly linked to a move to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League, but he chose to remain with the Brazilians to participate in the Club World Cup.

“I think I made the right choice to stay in Botafogo,” Jesus quipped.

PSG coach Luis Enrique said his team had expected a tough battle.

“We knew it was going to be a very difficult match — they defended very well,” the Spaniard said.

“This Club World Cup is very intense and difficult, and all the teams are highly motivated, especially when they’re playing against us.”

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

The PSG manager, though, was adamant that the European champions still had plenty of time to resurrect their campaign.

“If there’s a team that can turn it around, it’s our team,” he said. “We’ve got to analyse this and there are things we can improve. But I think our performance was good.”

PSG picked up where they had left off in Sunday’s 4-0 Group B rout of Atletico Madrid, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia testing Botafogo goalkeeper John with an early curling effort after just two minutes.

But that early effort was as close as PSG came to scoring in a scrappy first half punctuated by a series of niggling fouls that prevented the European champions from settling into their passing game.

Botafogo’s midfield trio of Marlon Freitas, Gregore and Allan worked tirelessly to close down Vitinha, denying the skilful PSG playmaker time and space to launch attacks despite dominating possession.

Instead, it was Botafogo who took the lead with a goal against the run of play on 36 minutes.

Jefferson Savarino’s perfectly weighted through ball split the PSG defence and sent Jesus racing through on goal.

The Botafogo striker did brilliantly to wrongfoot the covering Willian Pacho before sweeping a shot that took a slight deflection past PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma on its way into the net.

PSG continued to dominate possession through the second half, and spent long periods camped in the final third.

But Botafogo’s defence held firm and the result leaves the Brazilians firmly on course for the last 16, with a final group game against Atletico Madrid to come in Pasadena on Monday.

READ: Mohamed Salah among nominees for PFA Player of the Year award

Paris Saint-Germain survive Aston Villa scare to reach Champions League semis

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) survived a second half onslaught to beat Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate and reach the Champions League semi-finals despite a 3-2 defeat on Tuesday.

The French champions were cruising towards the last four when full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes struck in the first 27 minutes to add to their 3-1 first leg lead.

Youri Tielemans pulled a goal back for the English side before half-time, and two goals in two minutes from John McGinn and Ezri Konsa transformed the tie early in the second period.

PSG were thankful to goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma for keeping Unai Emery’s men at bay and preventing another famous collapse in the Champions League knockout stages.

“At the end, we got them suffering like we did,” said Emery. “To get this level is the next step forward that I want to try to build with Aston Villa.”

Villa boss Emery was in charge of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) when Luis Enrique’s Barcelona overturned a 4-0 first-leg deficit with a dramatic 6-1 win in 2017.

Luis Enrique again emerged victorious over his compatriot, but this tim, he was the one who watched his team almost blow a seemingly unassailable lead.

“I have to say that match for us is something that allows us to grow up and try to compete even better,” said Luis Enrique. “On the whole two matches we deserved to win and we are very happy because it’s the second year in a row in the semi-finals.”

Aston Villa had not experienced a European night like this since 1983, and there was an embarrassing moment for the hosts before a ball was kicked as the Europa League anthem was played instead of the famous pre-match hymn of the Champions League.

Luis Enrique’s surprise decision to start Bradley Barcola ahead of Desire Doue was justified just 11 minutes in when he sprinted down the left, and Emiliano Martinez spilled his cross into the path of Hakimi, who fired home the opener.

Another blistering break from the visitors cut Villa open as Ousmane Dembele squared for left-back Mendes to stroke in his fourth Champions League goal of the season and second of the tie.

Villa’s refusal to give up the fight was rewarded when Tielemans’ deflected effort pulled a goal back before half-time.

Villa fanatic Prince William and his son George were among the home support that were in raptures as what seemed an impossible fightback came closer to reality.

Catch all the PSL 10 updates here!

McGinn’s deflected effort flew into the top corner to restore parity on the night at 2-2.

Emery’s decision to start with Marcus Rashford up front ahead of top scorer Ollie Watkins was a controversial one before kick-off.

Rashford has been reborn since a January loan move from Manchester United.

The England international was denied a goal by a stunning save from Donnarumma.

But from the resulting corner, Rashford nutmegged Fabian Ruiz, skipped past Vitinha and cut the ball back for Konsa to slot in at the near post.

A Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) side that looked imperious in the first 45 minutes were suddenly all at sea as Villa missed a series of chances to take the game to extra time.

Donnarumma produced more brilliant saves to deny Tielemans and then Marco Asensio against his parent club.

Willian Pacho blocked Ian Maatsen’s goalbound effort in stoppage time to deny Villa at the death.

But they have surpassed expectations in their first experience of the elite level of European football for over four decades.

For PSG, their quest to win the competition for the first time goes on and they have rarely had a better opportunity to end that wait.

Arsenal are their likely semi-final opponents as the Gunners take a 3-0 quarter-final, first leg advantage away to holders Real Madrid on Wednesday.

On the other half of the draw Barcelona will face either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich in a heavyweight clash.

But Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are arguably the continent’s form side, and with the Ligue 1 title long since sewn up, can focus entirely on conquering Europe in Munich on May 31.

READ: Sam Billings hails Lahore Qalandars’ Clinical Execution in Consecutive PSL Wins

PSG set to honor Mbappe with farewell ceremony on Sunday: report

French club Paris Saint Germain (PSG) is set to organize a farewell ceremony for star striker Kylian Mbappe on Sunday to honour his services for the club, reported by French newspaper L’Équipe.

Mbappe, who joined PSG as an 18-year-old in 2017, is set to leave the club and is likely to join Spanish club Real Madrid, who qualified for the UEFA Champions League final yesterday after edging past German club Bayern Munich.

Mbappe had hoped to sign off by leading PSG to Champions League glory for the first time in their history, and they were the favourites to see off Borussia Dortmund at the Parc des Princes in the semi-final second leg.

But they failed to overturn a one-goal first-leg deficit, with Mats Hummels scoring the only goal on the night to give Dortmund a 2-0 aggregate victory.

Mbappe was one of four PSG players to hit the woodwork in the second half, and coach Luis Enrique complained his side -– who had 31 attempts on goal — had been “unlucky”.

“I don’t really like to talk about bad luck,” Mbappe said after the match.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

“When you are good, you don’t hit the post, you score. I tried to help my team as best as I could but I didn’t do enough.

“When I say we needed to be more clinical, I am the one who has to be scoring. But this is life, we need to pick ourselves up.”

“When things are good, I take all the limelight and when they are not, you have to take the shadow.”

During his seven-year stay, he emerged as PSG’s all-time top goalscorer with 255 goals in 306 games.

He has won six Ligue 1 titles and three Coupes de France, including a domestic quadruple in the 2019–20 season with the French club.

He also led them to their first-ever UEFA Champions League final in 2020.

READ: Joselu earns Madrid incredible Bayern comeback to reach Champions League final