LISBON (AP) – Through so many exasperating moments in the face of a purpose, too much for the world’s beloved top footballer, Neymar persevered, we decided to save Paris Saint-Germain.
Just as time was up, the player signed to give PSG its top coveted trophy, saving the French champion a humiliating exit from the Champions League against Atalanta.
An evening of frustrating and wasted scoring opportunities ended with Neymar setting the goals that Wednesday, generating a 2-1 victory that propelled PSG to the semi-finals for the first time in 25 years.
“No one will ever tell me that I need to go to the final, ” he said. “We are a wonderful team, a family, with an attitude that cannot be lost.”
Atalanta, the Serie A club with a modest budget overshadowed by the QatarI-backed PSG, had led mario Pa’aulio’s coup in the 27th to 90th minute. Neymar then discovered the time to prepare Marquinhos for the tie and worried about the preparation of Eric Choupo-Moting’s goal in the third minute of the time off.
Relief for Neymar. Agony for Atalanta. And all feelings can be heard around the empty Lisbon stadium, without internal enthusiasts being allowed due to restrictions on coronaviruses.
“Right now it’s pretty painful, ” said Roon’s Atalanta Marten. “Tomorrow I’ll be proud of our team and our club, but at the moment I’m disappointed.”
He had the Atlanta resistance to triumph and prolong a remarkable first season in the elite competition of European football, as did his hometown of Bergamo, one of the European cities hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to mourn the thousands of victims.
“It leaves us with a very bad taste to have conceded this winner beaten when the match was about to end,” said Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini. “That’s what hurts us, because until then we thought we were in control of the game.”
The substitutes helped the PSG’s fortunes, first with the arrival of Kylian Mbappé 30 minutes from the end, then Choupo-Moting 20 minutes later.
“When I arrived, I thought I couldn’t lose,” Choupo-Moting said, whose high and diagonal pass hit Neymar on the left flank at 90. The Brazilian’s flat shot returned through Marquinhos to cheer the PSG to a thrilling final.
It was another Neymar run that landed a tired Atalanta before feeding Mbappé, who moved Choupo-Moting to slide the ball over the line.
“It wasn’t a technical spectacle,” Choupo-Moting said of Neymar. “He worked hard for the team.”
Although Neymar voted the best player of the match, the 222 million euro striker handed the prize to the less glamorous partner he signed as a loose agent two years ago following Stoke’s relegation from the Premier League.
Only the extended season due to the pandemic means choupo-Moting is still a PSG player. The pandemic also meant that the quarter-finals were played at home and abroad as usual, but as singles matches in lisbon impartial without a moment shot.
With the withdrawal of the French championship in March, PSG had played two competitive matches since then: victories in the national cup final in July.
“It’s very difficult to prepare the team,” PSG coach Thomas Tuchel said. “There is no pace because there were no matches, but I can feel in recent days the determination, enthusiasm and effort.”
Choupo-Moting continued in 79th position to reposition the suffering of Mauro Icardi, who only controlled one unframed shot. At least Neymar was more in goal, but lost several smart times in the first half, adding a blatant failure in the third minute.
Receiving the property on the middle line, he ran part of the length of the field and only had goalkeeper Marco Sportiello to beat but distort the ball off the post.
The pass proved expensive when Duvan Zapata’s pass jammed with PSG defender Presnel Kimpembe and fell to Pa’aulio, who huddled on the roof of the net for his twelfth goal of the season.
Once again, PSG turned to Neymar to return to the game.
Once again, he failed, dragging a wide shot resembling a player who has played two competitive matches since March.
Even a loose kick from Neymar lacked speed and was saved without problems. And when right-back Hans Hateboer gave Neymar an opening at 42 with a sloppy back pass, the striker can only strike out.
Mbappé only brought in during the last hour, just after an ankle injury, but also got frustrated in the face of the goal.
However, the star duo of Neymar and Mbappé have had an effect on acting as a side-handing, creating the goals that have kept PSG on the path to a first European Cup that adds to this season’s national trophies.
PSG will play Atletico Madrid or Leipzig on Tuesday in the semi-finals.
Lack of access to the stadium did not deter Atalanta enthusiasts from flying from northern Italy to the Portuguese capital, if only to brighten up the fleeting moments when the team’s bus passed under them.
They’ll have a chance next season. A third consecutive spot in Serie A gave Atalanta a ticket back to the Champions League.
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