Such a long wait and finally a match. In twenty minutes, marked by three goals and a post from Neymar, Dortmund-PSG got carried away and finally corresponded to expectations, with a real ping pong from the Champions League and two teams finally decided to win the first leg. Paris loses it (2-1) and will be eliminated at the kick-off of the return on March 11. But he scored this away goal which can change the decor if you stay in football.
But as we have known all too well for a long time, something else will be played out at the Parc des Princes at the edge of spring, with the specter of a disaster. Psychologically, it will be the moment to show that something has changed in the realm of PSG, private when Verratti and Meunier returned. Because there is also the hope of sunny days, of a qualification by realizing a real big European match. There is material to correct this BVB, it is still necessary to take the right direction together.
Next time, Parisian friends, don't forget to attack! To score goals, it can help. It's still nerd to have such offensive weapons to finish with two strikes off target in the first period. In this renunciation, there is perhaps the uncertain form of Neymar, the choice of Tuchel's system, the minor influence of Di Maria. There may also be the weight of the past and traumatic eliminations for a club that is still looking for instructions for use in the Champions League and more particularly in the round of last three last seasons. When fear spreads, it stays, it sticks like a bad smell, a hint of "negativity" from which it is difficult to overcome.
Higher intentions and a patator named Haaland
PSG first tried in placed attacks, surrendering to the German counters. But he never found the spaces, the players between the lines and he had to center barely twice. In the second half, he backed off, trying to bite Lucien Favre's men against, betting on the speed of Mbappé, who continues to be better with a second striker by his side. It will be best with two strikes on target from the world champion (65th, 66th).
By insisting, in front of this supposedly brittle defensive team, Mbappé will serve as in a Neymar dream for equalization (1-1), six minutes after Haaland's first goal. Proof that Paris can raise its head. But before and after his goal, Paris also showed all its limits of the moment which cannot place it among the favorites of the Champions League.
Because when you attack badly or not enough, it is better to defend. On a collective error with multiple responsibilities, Haaland will end up punishing this Paris. In Dortmund, we overflow, we play on the sides, we hit, we put speed into its sequences. In short, we saw at least one "classic" team on the field, without finding the Borussia stunning. Just higher intentions and a patator named Haaland, capable of spraying Navas nets on a cannon shot (77th), stamped Bundesliga, a Championship he barely discovers. At 19, he became an attacker who now counts on the European scene.