At the moment of the final whistle, Neymar’s anger erupted and hit the man who shone so much brighter than the Brazilian himself that evening: Amine Gouiri, 22, the famous attacker from OGC Nice. Gouiri is considered one of the greatest talents in French football, he got a shove from Neymar and he also messed with former Schalke player Jean-Clair Todibo. Only when compatriot Dante, the captain of the southern French, took his former colleague from the national team in his arms did Neymar calm down.
Once again it was not his evening, the now 30-year-old had managed to lose a whopping 22 balls. One of them initiated the only goal of the evening and thus Paris Saint-Germain’s third defeat of this Ligue 1 season: A cross from Dutchman Calvin Stengs found Andy Delort in the middle, who made the ball unstoppable for PSG with a perfect half-volley -Goalkeeper Keylor Navas hammered in the right bend to make it 1-0 for Nice.
Once again, the league leaders disappointed, not only for Neymar but also for Ángel Di María, who missed the only serious scoring opportunity for Paris in the early stages. And for Lionel Messi, who has meanwhile become the best preparer for Ligue 1, but has so far only shown the beginnings of his genius in France.
Coach Pochettino moderates the poor appearance of his eleven unemotionally
The game also revealed how dependent Kylian Mbappé, who was suspended this time, is: In the six games in which the 23-year-old world champion was not in the starting XI this season, PSG only managed a measly win. The good news for coach Mauricio Pochettino: Mbappé is in the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League on Wednesday evening against Real Madrid – the attacker willing to change had decided the first leg in the Prinzenpark against his possibly new club with a late goal to make it 1-0.
Nice’s winning goal scorer celebrates: Andy Delort (left) maneuvered the ball into the PSG goal beforehand, which is worth seeing.
(Photo: Valery Hache/AFP)
Captain Marquinhos commented tight-lipped that his colleagues on Saturday in the Allianz Riviera, like in the away game in Nantes in mid-February (1: 3), offered an uninspired performance: “We created very few chances and had difficulties finding the necessary spaces “, he said right after the game at the TV microphone. And even if PSG are still comfortably ahead of Nice with 13 points, “it shouldn’t become a habit that we lose away”.
Coach Pochettino moderated the poor performance in the press conference in the usual unemotional manner: The game fell into the preparations for a Champions League summit that “everyone is waiting for and everyone is talking about”. He did warn of concentration on the Nice game: “But it’s not always easy to deal with such a situation.” The Argentinian has long been the focus of criticism in the French media because of such soft analysis.
Despite all the disappointment with the expensive ensemble from the capital, one should not belittle the performance of the Niçois: In the third game of the season against the designated champions, the men from the Côte d’Azur remained unbeaten for the third time – and for the third time without conceding a goal. Between the 0-0 in the first leg in autumn and the current 1-0 success at the end of January was a penalty shoot-out win in the round of 16, with which coach Christoph Galtier, who had won the championship with OSC Lille in the previous season, the overpowering opponent messed up another title. Nice have now reached the final for the first time in 25 years, where they meet FC Nantes at the Stade de France on 8 May.
The Coupe de France 2022 may be the first title win under the new club management around British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, who wants to defy the PSG-Qatar cooperation with the Olympique Gymnaste Club in the coming years. The owner of the chemical company Ineos does not indiscriminately pump money into the club, in Nice they rely on sensible, selective reinforcements. In addition to technician Gouiri, the top performers include the strong goalkeeper Walter Benitez and Dante, 38, who recently extended his contract by a year, two sons of great fathers: Justin Kluivert and Kephren Thuram.