The capital club, which could take its revenge on the Magpies and even already qualify, did not go far from the nightmare evening on Tuesday.
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A draw that has the flavor of a victory. Trailing for almost an hour of play in its Parc des Princes, Paris Saint-Germain avoided defeat against Newcastle (1-1), Tuesday November 28, during the 5th day of the Champions League. If Kylian Mbappé had not scored from the penalty spot in the very last moments (90th+8), his team would no longer have had the cards in hand before traveling to Dortmund in two weeks for the last day of the group stage.
Very discreet during almost the entire meeting, the Parisian star removed a big thorn in the side of his team, who spent their evening chasing the score. With one goal aside, the outcome of the evening could not have been more negative. Only one scenario could have seen PSG no longer have its destiny in its hands: a defeat associated with a success for Borussia against AC Milan. Dortmund won (3-1), and Paris virtually occupied third place in their group until a few moments before the final whistle.
31 shots, 1 goal
Before being able to breathe a big sigh of relief, PSG continued to see its frustration grow, due to its failure to convert its opportunities and in the face of unfavorable refereeing decisions. In particular, two penalties were not awarded to him in quick succession, first for a tackle on Achraf Hakimi (69th) then for a handball from Lewis Miley (72nd). Faced with an extremely realistic opponent capable of achieving their only highlight of the match, at the heart of the first period, thanks to an opportunistic Alexander Isak (24th), Paris was sorely lacking in efficiency. The capital club finished the match with 31 shots attempted (compared to 5 suffered) and only 7 on target. Dangerous but particularly clumsy in front of goal, the incoming Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé brought the stadium to its feet with anger and disappointment on several occasions.
The ultra-domination of the second period, facing an opponent who had swapped his intensive pressing for a compact and patient defense, should not make us forget the still visible shortcomings of this PSG that Luis Enrique himself judges “still in a research process”. Even if the capital club has experienced a lot of disillusionment in its recent history in the Champions League, never before this season had it experienced such low moments in European evenings, sometimes failing for almost ten minutes to come out of his own camp.
Paris has two weeks to move forward and progress before a very crucial trip to Borussia Dortmund. But it will still be without Warren Zaire-Emery, whose midfield activity his team lacked on Tuesday evening, and without Ousmane Dembélé who will be suspended. At least there won’t be any apothecary accounts to do. To ensure its qualification, without taking into account the Newcastle-Milan result, Paris will have to win. This would also allow him to secure first place in his group and make us forget his chaotic beginnings in this 2023-2024 edition.