At the Parc des Princes
He could have been the hero of the evening.
The symbol of a conquering SG Paris and ready to march on the whole of Europe after having sent Messi's Barça and Lewandowski's Bayern Munich back to their cottages.
We will have to go back to imagine such a scenario or failing that, wait until next Tuesday and the return match in Manchester.
First scorer in a two-faced meeting for the Parisians, Marquinhos was unable to stop the fall of his family in the heart of a nightmarish second half.
Cataclysmic.
"We have what it takes to turn the situation around, you have to go out there with a warrior mindset and personality."
Without emotion or heat, like a disjointed puppet, the Parisian captain nevertheless took the time to greet his evening opponents one by one before leaving the lawn of the Parc des Princes last.
Without soul but not without hope either, forced to believe in the feat in a week against the band of Pep Guardiola.
“We have what it takes to turn the situation around, we have to go there with a warrior mentality and personality,” he breathes, his face full of disappointment.
We need to believe."
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For his return since his absence of three weeks and the first leg in Munich, Marquinhos had nevertheless done everything to launch his own. On a whim that Basile Boli or Samuel Umtiti would not have denied - authors of an almost similar and above all legendary goal against AC Milan in 1993 and against Belgium in 2018 - it was he who sprang up and placed an unstoppable header (1-0, 15th) in a meeting that will undermine Parisian spirits for several days. An enraged helmet and a goal that rewarded the good start of the match by the executioners of Bayern. A fifth achievement in the career of the Parisian captain in the Champions League, after the equally important one registered in Munich during the first leg. Sign of an important man in the great evenings. Everything seemed mapped out. Written. And wonderful to tell. Missed.
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Even if the result was the same in the first period.
In an empty and sad Parc des Princes, it was again he who gave his voice, harangued his family with “Come on!”, “Together guys!”
or the famous “In place”.
Between authoritarian outings in front of Mahrez (21st) or a timely tackle on De Bruyne (44th), to the delight of a delighted Mauricio Pochettino and applauding the debauchery of his captain's energy on the sidelines .
At that moment, no one imagined the catastrophe to come in the second half.
Even less Marquinhos, serene, solid and symbol of a Paris SG sure of its strength in the face of Citizens crushed in the fight.
Physically too fair, like his teammates
Coincidence or coincidence, his voice carried less in the spans of the Park after returning from the locker room, with Parisians amorphous and asphyxiated by a City not gigantic either. And if the 26-year-old Brazilian could do nothing the two paws of De Bruyne (64th) and Mahrez (71st), his influence on his family had nothing to do with that seen in the first act. As if extinct and unable to remobilize his troops in the midst of a nightmare. Physically, his absence of several weeks was also felt. Less rare. Less toned. And especially more readable for his opponents. The angry head plunged in his jersey, he even struggled to find the words to re-mobilize his team. Aware of an evening that was turning into a nightmare. He, like the others, has revenge to take. The epic of PSG in the Champions League will need it.
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