PSG sink again in Europe after losing 2-0 to Bayern

MUNICH (AP) — Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé will have to wait another year for another shot at winning the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain.

And what was Bayern Munich’s secret to beating the French team? Goals from former PSG players.

After former PSG player Kingsley Coman scored in the first leg in Paris, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting followed up a 2-0 victory in the second leg and the German club won 3-0 on aggregate to advance to the the quarter-finals. of the Champions League.

Choupo-Moting played for PSG against Bayern when the Bavarian giants won the title duel in 2020.

Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said he had a plan to stop Messi and Mbappé. It seemed to work, as the Bayern defenders gradually removed the participation of the two stars.

“In the first game, we didn’t do what we talked about very well,” Nagelsmann told DAZN. “There was too much space. We defended better in the second half and were dangerous with the ball. In the end, we deserved to win.”

Messi, Mbappé and the constellation of PSG stars were shipwrecked in the round of 16 for the second consecutive season in the tournament which the French team are eager to win for the first time.

Now all PSG can win in this campaign is the home league title. Last month, Marseille expelled him from the Coupe de France.

Shortly after being disallowed for offside and inadvertently deflecting a team-mate’s shot, Choupo-Moting scored in the 61st minute to open the scoring at the Allianz Arena.

Leon Goretzka and Thomas Müller teamed up to clear the ball away from Marco Verratti and Goretzka fed it to Choupo-Moting to finish at will against dedicated keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Two substitutes created the second goal in the 89. João Cancelo overflowed on the right and made way for Serge Gnabry to score.

PSG dominated the first half and their goal cry was drowned out when Bayern defender Matthijs de Ligt cleared a ball from the line. But Bayern ramped up the intensity in the plugin against a faded rival.

The Parisian side played without Neymar, who played in the first leg before suffering a campaign-ending ankle injury. Instead, he brought Mbappé back into the starting lineup, who came on as a substitute in the opener.

PSG coach Christophe Galtier blamed the failure on the busy schedule and injuries to key players. The injured list grew when Brazil captain Marquinhos left after 36 minutes, reportedly with a recurrence of the rib injury that limited him in last week’s game, a win over Nantes.

His replacement Nordi Mukiele also left at the break, replaced by El Chadaille Bitshiabu, a 17-year-old defender who made his Champions League debut.

“We accept that the first goal was really stupid at this level,” admitted Galtier. “Yes, there was pressure from Bayern, but sometimes you shouldn’t be ashamed to send a long ball when there is pressure. Being late after an hour complicates everything”.