"Luck seems to have turned": the qualification of PSG deciphered by the foreign press

A story of shattered dreams and chased ghosts. The European press did not have to force itself to analyze the crazy evening experienced by the players of PSG and Atalanta Bergamo (2-1), Wednesday night in Lisbon.

In three minutes, the destinies of the two clubs, with incomparable status and finances, crossed. One overcame the curse and found the last four in C1, 25 years later. The other fell in the final, after having thrilled football fans with his ardor.

"Despite the defeat, the goddess (nickname of Atalanta, Editor's note) can return to Bergamo with her head held high", therefore greets this Thursday morning the Gazetta dello Sport which, like all the Italian press, retains the Homeric course of Gasperini's troop. “Proud of you” is the headline of the local daily “Eco di Bergamo”.

Orgogliosi di voi.

Ecco la prima pagina del nostro giornale oggi pic.twitter.com/b4wvZb52sf

Pride therefore to have seen the Italian "satellite" shake the Parisian "planet", but also "a lot of bitterness", recognizes the Corriere della Sera. The reference of the transalpine sports press underlines the physical failure of the Italians in the last quarter of an hour, finally unable to resist until the end to the "class of the Ney-Mbappé duo, which is worth more than the whole team of the 'Atalanta'.

Mbappé, "a deadly player"

The Spanish press also only has eyes for these two. According to Marca, Mbappé has proven his status as a “deadly player”, running as fast as a “cyclone”. As for Neymar, "author of a masterful lesson", would he not quite simply become "the best player in the world", ignites a journalist.

"With all Paris on his shoulders and without his squire Kylian by his side, for at least an hour of play, the Brazilian was the key figure in the exit of PSG, sometimes drowned by the suffocating pressure of Atalanta", can -on read on their site. The Daily Mail insists on the 16 successful dribbles by the Brazilian, a performance that only Messi and Zanetti had so far achieved in the Champions League.

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VIDEO. Atalanta - PSG: Paris qualifies for the semi-final

In the German newspapers, it is also about a couple. But another, more atypical, less flashy: the one formed by Thomas Tuchel, the Bavarian coach on crutches placed on his cooler, and his “darling child”, Choupo-Moting. “Neymar came to PSG for 222 million euros. But the club reached the semi-finals of the Champions League with a low-budget transfer: via the magical evening of Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting ”, laughs the German newspaper Der Spiegel.

"Tuchel denies", headlines the German newspaper Bild./Screenshot Bild.de  

"He is back in the game, and he makes the Tuchel madness perfect", abounds Bild about the Cameroonian striker of 31 years, often mocked for his technical level and left the bench in extremis.

PSG, a team that remains "strangely fragile"

In summary, as often, PSG has left no one indifferent in the Champions League. He is a past master in the art of twists and turns. But as often also, he was not really impressed by his group insurance. No media is daring this Thursday morning to place the French club as the big favorite of the competition.

The Guardian still doubts this PSG, “strangely fragile star vehicle” when the Spanish newspaper Sport describes a team “reduced to its own individualities”. But, now "devoid of ghosts", continues Sport, PSG could let go. In any case, this is what some colleagues suggest, especially with the probable returns of Di Maria and Mbappé in the starting eleven.

“The luck seems to have turned in Paris, advance Marca. With the wind in their favor and without pressure once arrived in the semifinals, to see who can slow down this PSG. In case you do not know it yet, Ici c'est Paris »