bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

After years of failing to live up to their billing in Europe, Paris Saint-Germain are within 90 minutes of the Champions League final thanks to their dramatic win over Atalanta on Wednesday, and coach Thomas Tuchel now knows “everything is possible” for his team.
PSG were on the verge of another disappointing Champions League exit as they trailed Atalanta 1-0 into the 90th minute in Lisbon, where all the latter stages are being played after the long coronavirus shutdown.
But Mario Pasalic’s 27th-minute strike for the Italians was finally cancelled out by Marquinhos, who scrambled in a last-gasp leveller.
Then, three minutes into injury time, Kylian Mbappe set up fellow substitute Eric Choupo-Moting to convert the clinching goal.
Bayern Munich still looking for first Chinese player, says Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
“The goals came very late but we deserved the victory. We never stopped believing or attacking,” said Tuchel, whose team will face Atletico Madrid or RB Leipzig in the semi-final, the club’s first since 1995.
“The boys who came off the bench had a big impact. We deserved it, we made our own luck.”

The money ploughed into the French champions by their Qatari owners has increased the pressure on PSG to deliver and losing to Atalanta would have invited more criticism of a club whose recent record in such games has been poor.
After all, Atalanta’s entire wage bill is believed to be equivalent to what PSG pay Neymar per year (about €36 million, US$42.5m).
Ballon d’Or cancelled this year amid coronavirus disruption
Absent from decisive Champions League games in the last two seasons because of injuries, Neymar was excellent here, never giving up. He set up the equaliser and played a part in the winner.
“Going home never crossed my mind,” said the world’s most expensive player.
Mbappe was only fit enough to play the final half-hour, after a spell on the sidelines with an ankle injury, but his pace down the left flank had Atalanta on the back foot in the closing stages and he laid on the winner.
PSG will be hopeful the France star can start the semi-final next Tuesday, but it is thanks to Choupo-Moting that they are there at all.
“We’ve already won four titles this season but the most important is this one,” declared the Cameroon striker.
It seems ironic that PSG – the world’s fifth-richest club according to this year’s Deloitte Football League – needed to rely on a free transfer from Stoke City to take them through to the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since the Qatari takeover in 2011.
They had gone out in the last-16 the past three years, but Choupo-Moting’s goal saw them break through the glass ceiling on the same day PSG marked their 50th anniversary.
From Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Ronaldinho, some fabulous players have turned out for the club in their relatively short history, although Choupo-Moting has not made much of a mark in his two seasons in Paris.
There is a big difference between playing with or without Kylian. That’s clear ... Now we have six days for Kylian to get back to his best
Thomas Tuchel, PSG manager
He had not previously scored in the Champions League and would probably have been best remembered for missing an open goal while standing on the line in a game against Strasbourg.
Indeed he would not even have been playing in this match in different circumstances.
Choupo-Moting’s contract expired in June but he agreed to stay on for two months to play a part in the “Final Eight” after Edinson Cavani – PSG’s all-time top scorer, who was also out of contract – walked away.
And so the 31-year-old came on for the ineffective Mauro Icardi for the closing stages. He will at best have a bit part role to play in the semi-final, though.
Mbappe could be ready to start then and Angel Di Maria will return from suspension, although Marco Verratti will probably be out again injured.
“There is a big difference between playing with or without Kylian,” Tuchel said.
“That’s clear, and it’s the same with Marco and Angel. Now we have six days for Kylian to get back to his best.
“I’m not sure about Marco, but we are in the last four, everything is possible.”


‘Fragile’ City collapse, Arsenal’s 5-star display, OGs take Baller League global

Uefa Champions League: Mikel Arteta urges Arsenal to ‘make a statement’ at Sporting Lisbon

It’ll be a ‘different world’ at Manchester United, says exiting Sporting boss Ruben Amorim

Man City battered by new Man Utd boss, Cristiano Ronaldo scores, Aryna Sabalenka ‘24 No 1

Uefa Champions League

PSG break through Champions League glass ceiling after years of disappointment

PSG’s Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (second right) scores during the Uefa Champions League quarter final against Atalanta. Photo: EPA

Soccer Football - Champions League - Quarter Final - Atalanta v Paris St Germain - Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal - August 12, 2020 Paris St Germain's Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Neymar celebrate after the match, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) David Ramos/Pool via REUTERS

Uefa Champions League: top four will qualify even if season is abandoned, says Spanish FA

Spain’s La Liga has announced that the current top four will qualify for the Champions League if the season can’t be finished. Photo: Reuters

Bayern Munich still looking for first Chinese player, says Karl-Heinz Rummenigge

Chinese boys in Bayern Munich jerseys take part in a training session after the opening ceremony of Bayern’s Shanghai office. Photo: AFP

Soccer Football - Bayern Munich vs Arsenal - International Champions Cup - Shanghai, China - July 19, 2017 Bayern Munich's James Rodriguez in action with Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles REUTERS/Aly Song

Bayern Munich's chief executive officer Karl Heinz Rummenigge cuts the ribbon during the officially opening ceremony of Bayern's first China office in Shanghai on March 22, 2017. Germany's Bayern Munich becomes the first Bundesliga club to open an office in Shanghai. / AFP PHOTO / Johannes EISELE

epa08259339 Bayern Munich players celebrate their 5-0 lead during the German Bundesliga soccer match between TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich in Sinsheim, Germany, 29 February 2020. EPA-EFE/ARMANDO BABANI CONDITIONS - ATTENTION: The DFL regulations prohibit any use of photographs as image sequences and/or quasi-video.

Sport

Football


French champions Paris Saint-Germain stage a last ditch comeback to make the final four of the Uefa Champions League



French champions Paris Saint-Germain stage a last ditch comeback to make the final four of the Uefa Champions League.


French Ligue 1