Atalanta's end in the Champions League: the fairy tale ends tragically

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Atalanta was only minutes away from the greatest success in club history

Closing phase, spectacular time: A last desperate blow into the penalty area, a deposit from Neymar and the equalization of Marquinhos - PSG pulled their head out of the loop in the 90th minute with the equalizer. And followed up: In the third minute of stoppage time, Kylian Mbappé fit sharply into the middle and former Bundesliga professional Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting pushed the ball over the line from close range.

The result: Atalanta missed the semi-finals of the Champions League in its debut season. The Italians lost to Paris Saint-Germain 1: 2 (1: 0). Click here for the match report.

The first half: Atalanta started with no tails. Already after 140 seconds Alejandro Gómez had the lead on his feet, in return Neymar forgave standing free in front of Marco Sportiello. The first of three good opportunities that the Brazilian failed to take in the first half. The third in Serie A came through Hans Hateboer (11th minute) and Berat Djimsiti (14th) to further opportunities. In the middle of the first half Atalantas Duvan Zapata jumped the ball on the edge of the box. But after the duel with Presnel Kimpembe, the Kullerball turned into pure danger: Mario Pasalic chased the ball from 15 meters with his left foot into the far corner for Keylor Navas (27 .). Atalanta played it down impressively cool, at PSG everything went offensively through Neymar.

Puss in boots: A metatarsal fracture brought PSG trainer Thomas Tuchel an impressive splint and an extravagant seat. The fact that the former coach of FSV Mainz 05 had to watch a goal by Pasalic, who was born in Mainz, should not have alleviated the pain at first, despite the "but that's a nice story!" Factor.

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Thomas Tuchel with rails and on an extravagant seat on the edge of the field

The second half: Tuchel's team now acted more purposefully without coming to any compulsory deals. But Djimsiti missed the 2-0 after a standard situation by only centimeters (58th). PSG, now with substitute Kylian Mbappé, and through him with the first chance in the second half: The 21-year-old failed in the 74th minute at Sportiello. The game meanwhile was characterized by numerous fouls and yellow cards, the level was manageable. Equalization and winning goal came late, but undoubtedly deserved. Tuchel hopped and cheered as best he could.

Happy birthday: Exactly 50 years ago to the day, the Paris Saint-Germain Football Club was founded, at the latest since the entry of a group of investors from Qatar in 2011, the Champions League title has been the goal of all dreams. A lot of money was spent on this, but time after time not reached the semi-finals. Now they succeeded with a late win against a team that is not one of the big heads in European football. PSG's last semi-final round before: 1995 against Milan.

Un-Italian hot for goals: Atalanta scored 116 goals in the 2019/2020 season, none of which were scored by an Italian. Most important local player at Atalanta: Substitute goalkeeper Sportiello, who made his second appearance after the 4: 3 against Valencia and acted flawlessly. The Italians initially took advantage of the league's tailwind, PSG had problems. No surprise: Atalanta had played 13 games in the past five months, PSG only two.

From the abyss to the semi-finals and back: what a Champions League season it was for Atalanta. After three match days in the preliminary round, they had zero points, after four just one. Then they won twice and heaved themselves into the Achfinals, where they could land two wins against Valencia again. And now the dream of another game as the "unlikely" semi-finalist like Ajax Amsterdam was one last year - it burst when the forces had dwindled.

Who is waiting On Thursday, Atlético Madrid and RB Leipzig (9 p.m., TV: Dazn and Sky, live ticker: SPIEGEL.de) face each other in the second quarter-final duel. The winner will meet PSG on August 18th. None of the possible teams in this semi-final match has won the Champions League yet.