Here is an overview of the first match of the Champions League quarter-finals PSG - Manchester City.
Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City are one of the most interesting couples quarterfinals and it's not only about the size of salaries and the concept of building the success of the clubs, but also about the fact that Blanc's team has long secured a victory in Ligue 1, but Pellegrini's wards still have to fight in the Premier League.
The hosts can calmly concentrate on the main European club competition, having a huge 25-point lead over the second Monaco. While Manchester City is clearly not satisfied with the fourth line in the Premier League table, and even with West Ham and United pressing on the tail.
On top of that, for the Citizens, the personnel situation could also be attributed to the main problem: Yaya Toure, Company and Sterling were injured. And it's hard without them.
The start of the meeting turned out to be stormy. The stands "Parc des Princes" drove their favorites forward, and they did not fail the expectations of the fans. Already at the 10th minute of the game, a very controversial situation arose, in which the referee could give a penalty. Cavani tried to take Matuidi on a date with Hart, but Mangalya pushed his opponent in the back, which immediately infuriated a number of PSG players, but Mazic did not dare to appoint a penalty kick.
Nevertheless, the hosts got their way and still earned a penalty. After a corner, David Luis very competently stumbled upon Bakary Sanya in someone else's penalty area, earning a point to which Ibrahimovic approached, but Hart coped with his shot with dignity. The Englishman guessed the direction of the Swede's blow, delaying the brewing goal.
At the same time, the crazy pressure of PSG, despite such an oversight, did not weaken. All the same Ibrahimovic could have scored after a pass, but Zlatan's header under the crossbar was able to be parried again by Hart.
Ibrahimovic was not going to stop, although he did not use another chance when Motta's filigree cutting pass brought Zlatan to the center on a date with Hart, after which the Swede tried to throw Joe over his head, but launched a round one above the crossbar.
For such extravagance, the guests punished the Parisians, unexpectedly opening an account in the game. Fernandinho took advantage of a rough sawed-off in the center of the field from Matuidi, and organized a thrust three on three, in the end of which he passed a pass to De Bruyne, who shot Trapp from the corner from 10 meters.
But the fans from Foggy Albion did not have time to stop hugging for joy in the stands, as the Parisians equalized the score. Hart rolled the ball away from his goalkeeper to Fernando, but he hesitated, and he was robbed from behind by the ubiquitous Ibrahimovic, who, with a simple jab to the touch, knocked the projectile out from under the Brazilian's feet into the empty net of City.
The start of the second half was no different from the start of the fight. The hosts immediately went ahead, trying in every possible way to exacerbate the situation at the gates of the guests. So, in one of the episodes, there was a cross from the left flank from Maxwell, Cavani ran into the ball in the very center of the goalkeeper Manchester City, but Mangal beat the Uruguayan at the very last moment, almost cutting off the round into his own goal.
Nevertheless, PSG pressed the opponent down and took the lead. The hosts played another corner again, after which a canopy passed to Cavani, who got to the ball first, and sent it to the far post. Hart parried the projectile in flight, but Rabiot was the first to finish, and again made the stadium beat in ecstasy.
The dumbfounded guests tried to calm the game, but City's defense was bursting at the seams from the clear actions of the French. Another cross from the flank to the center of the penalty area allowed Zlatan to hit the crossbar right from the corner, and Cavani could finish off the “Citizens” afterwards, but his shot went above the target.
But City again managed to restore parity, and football fans saw the second curious goal in this meeting. The moment was created after Aurier cut off in the center circle, which allowed Sanya to shoot into the center of the goalkeeper Trapp, where Maxwell knocked the round right at Fernandinho, and the Brazilian hit the gate from under Thgo Silva, scoring a ricochet from the captain of PSG.
In the remaining time, the disappointed French tried to organize a third goal, but the British managed the space competently and not only tried to move the game away from their goal, but also did not forget to control the projectile in the other side, hoping to transfer all the most important to Foggy Albion.
Thus, both teams showed a real performance with an abundance of goals and moved the theater of action to the return game, although the hosts had a decent playing advantage over the guests, but in football they pay dearly for mistakes ...
In the first match of the Champions League quarter-finals, PSG could not defeat Manchester City at their home stadium.
Paris was looking forward to the first match against Manchester City. After going through that frightened them all last years Chelsea, the French were determined not to stop at the townspeople from Manchester. “We want more” - such banners PSG fans greeted their favorites at the moment the players entered the field. Today's state guests raised concerns of all British football fans. But Manuel Pellegrini gave fans a dose of joy before the game by launching Joe Hart.
The Manchester City goalkeeper was on the injured list two days before the start of the match. Pellegrini's decision was not questioned, especially after the action at the beginning of the game. The match began without swinging, as if we were watching a friendly match. Aguero outwardly very easily went on the corner of the penalty area of David Luis. Before the Argentine forward of the guests, the possessions of Kevin Trapp were already opening. Luis had to either foul a meter from the entrance to the holy of holies of his club or miss Aguero and see a promising goal-scoring chance. David chose the first option and the judge calmly punished the Brazilian with a warning already at the fourteenth second!
The "love" of the author of the material for David Louis was told long ago. A completely reckless center-back, playing a failure of 50 minutes and shining at the Champions League level for the remaining 40 minutes, should not be in the camp of a top club. So it was at Chelsea. This is the case now, when, immediately after a nightmare mistake, the Brazilian transforms and gives out his football in attack. Before David Luis earned a penalty in the Manchester City penalty area, there was another controversial moment related to the fall of Matuidi. On aggregate, a 11-meter kick was assigned to Hart's goal.
Joe began to play with Zlatan's nerves in advance, leaving the gate and forcing Ibrahimovic to monitor his movements. Ibrahimovic struck a powerful blow in the lower left corner, Joe Hart fully guessed the intentions of the Swede and jumped into his zone. For Hart, the reflected penalty was the third of the last four penalty kicks in the Champions League. The penalty shot on Zlatan obviously had a negative impact, and he turned the next moment with his participation into a clownery without realizing the purest football bullet. Hart skillfully left the gate and confused the most dangerous opponent.
However, Khartu Ibrahimovic, as we all remember very well, scored even over himself from outside the penalty area. And temporary difficulties did not bother him. Three minutes before the break, Ibrahimovic caught up with Fernando's mistake, who, in the absence of Hart in the range of the goal, began to wind up the ball surrounded by the Swede. Ibra substituted his leg and the ball ricocheted from the Parisian went into the net. Unfortunately, “PSG” guests by that time were already in the account. A sharp counterattack, “Manchester City” ended with a cutting pass on De Bruyne, who shot the hapless Trapp.
The Parisians decided to start the second half of the game more attentively at their gates and more aggressively at the property of the guests. Maxwell, Matuidi, Ibrahimovic, Cavani and Rabio were building up pressure on Hart's domain. Joe was saved by the crossbar, ricochets, inaccuracy of the Parisians, but at the end of an hour of net time, Adrien Rabio, who caused the French to concede a goal in the first half, was the first to finish after Hart's wonderful save caused by Cavani's kick.
The Parc des Princes was on a rampage. The pace of attacks of Laurent Blanc's wards was supposed to crush Hart's defensive orders, but the Mancunians skillfully survived the unpleasant minutes for them (like Atlético at the Camp Nou), and in the seventy-third minute, quite unexpectedly, equalized the score. After a lumbago from the right flank, Aurier fidgeted at the corner of his goalkeeper, Thiago Silva adjusted to Fernandinho's blow, but a series of ricochets won back Trapp, who only watched as the ball rolled extremely offensively into the corner of his possession.
“PSG” missed a lot of chances to score (how can you not remember the weak competition in Ligue 1 ?!) and with their own hands signed up to the difficulties at the “City of Manchester”. There is no doubt that the Mancunians will create them.
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Valery KARAPETYAN.
The first semi-finalists of the Champions League have been announced today. For the first time in its history in the four strongest teams Europe got the English "Manchester City". Citizens beat French PSG with a minimum score
A week ago in Paris the teams drew 2: 2. But the second meeting of the teams turned out to be less effective. The opponents acted cautiously, and the only goal was scored in the middle of the second half.
The hosts could have opened an account in the first half of the meeting. On the 28th minute of the match, the guests missed a quick attack of the opponent, Aguero went one-on-one with Trapp, and the PSG goalkeeper had to shoot down the Argentine. Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo immediately pointed to the spot for a penalty kick, and Trapp received a yellow card, which could have been red. But Aguero did not use his chance, breaking past the gate.
The Parisians' main and only weapon that evening turned out to be Ibrahimovic. In the first meeting, the Swedish forward also missed the penalty, but managed to improve, scoring at the end of the half. Ibrahimovic was close to a goal in this game as well. The Swede hit dangerous free-kick twice, but every time Hart rescued the hosts. In the second half, Ibrahimovic still scored, but at the time of the shot on goal he was offside.
After the break, the guests had to take risks. The attacking game for Laurent Blanc's team was not going well, and the outcome of the two-legged quarterfinals was decided by de Bruyne's accurate shot. The Belgian midfielder in the 76th minute received the ball near the opponent's penalty line and shot straight into the far corner.
After that, the guests had to score two goals, but the hosts kept the winning score. The French champions rarely went to shots on goal. In addition, Hart played an excellent match. The goalkeeper of Manchester City with the score 1: 0 did not allow Cavani to realize a one-on-one exit.
Champions League. Quarterfinals. The return match.
Manchester City (England) - PSG (France) 1: 0
Goal: De Bruyne, 74
Warnings: Fernandinho, 72 - Trapp, 29, Van der Wiel, 68
"Manchester city": Hart, Clichy, Mangala, Otamendi, Sanya, Fernandinho, Fernando, Navas, De Bruyne (Toure, 85), Silva (Delph, 87), Aguero (Iheanacho, 90)
PSG: Trapp, Thiago Silva, Aurier (Pastore, 61), Marquinhos, Thiago Motta (Moura, 44), Rabio, Di Maria, Van der Ville, Maxwell, Cavani, Ibrahimovic
Judge: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)
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Manuel Pellegrini ( Main coach"Manchester city"):
- I am very satisfied. Not only because we won and advanced to the next round. We won in the style we wanted. We didn’t think about a goalless draw, from the beginning of the match we tried to beat PSG.
De Bruyne is an important player for us. We deserved a goal on the game, dominating from first to before last minute... Aguero's penalty from the penalty spot was not the best moment but the team showed the character of a big club.
I never understood the criticism of the club. In the first season with me at the head of the City club, they beat Bayern and lost to Barcelona. In the second season we beat Bayern again and lost again to Barcelona.
This year we won the group and beat PSG. People don't understand that Barcelona just have better players?
Sport Arena announces today's Champions League quarter-finals.
Man City - PSG (first leg - 2: 2)
21:45, Manchester, Etihad, referee Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain)
Live broadcast on Football 1 TV channel
At Etihad, in principle, no one hides that now the priority task for the season is precisely the success in the main European Cup tournament. The townspeople long ago turned off the championship race and threw all their strength into achieving success in the European arena, and in this regard, the ambitions of the club and the head coach personally coincide. Before making room for Pep Guardiola, Manuel Pellegrini would surely be happy to slam the door loudly, and the result of the first match in Paris allows him to look at the situation with optimism.
Two goals scored away convinced even the bookmakers, who now see it as the favorite of the duel English team... At the Parc des Princes, the townspeople made it clear that they had gained European Cup experience and were ready to correspond to the status of a top club, not only on paper, but also in practice: the eminent performers of the Manchester team played in an orderly manner, albeit unable to avoid gross individual mistakes.
It is important that on the road PSG will not be able to help David Luis and Blaise Matuidi, who got optional warnings in the first fight and were disqualified. Considering that Marco Verratti is still on sick leave, the situation in the central zone for Paris is not very favorable. However, they say that coaching staff Blanc is ready to risk the health of the Italian midfielder and put him on his feet tonight.
Man City also has its own problems. The leader and captain of the team, Vincent Company, yesterday held a training session in the general group, but later it became known that he still would not play with PSG. Delph also has some problems, but his appearance on the field is still more likely. Especially considering how Fernando played in the first match. Nevertheless, Pellegrini still has one trump card. We are talking about the returned Kevin De Bruyne, who already in his first season in Manchester managed to become one of the most important players in the attack. In a duel with West Brom, the Belgian played only half an hour, but during this time he managed to prove himself great. City fans are gladdened by this.
Real Madrid - Wolfsburg
21:45, Madrid, Santiago Bernabeu, referee Victor Kaszhai (Hungary)
Live broadcast on Football 2 TV channel
In the pair, which after the draw seemed the least equal, there was perhaps the main intrigue of the entire quarterfinal stage of the tournament. On home arena Wolfsburg suddenly gave a real fight to the guests from Madrid, who, it seemed, underestimated the opponent and fell into a trap. Dieter Hecking's team managed not only to stop the rival's star attack, but also to play their own football, based on a quick exit from defense to attack and a bold play in the final third of the field.
If we were talking about teams of a similar level and class, everything would be very clear in this confrontation, but it is certainly not worth expecting that after one failure in Madrid they will give up. Without a doubt, Wolfsburg has achieved an impressive result, but the status of the Creamy allows them to count on a successful entry into the semifinals. Obviously, it is extremely undesirable for Real to miss at the Bernabeu, but the fact that they are able to throw a full wallet to an opponent is beyond doubt. Needless to say, if only this season, in 14 cases, their rivals received four or more goals into their gates.
It is possible that in order to achieve this goal, Zinedine Zidane will release a more attacking squad, where there may be a place for James or Isco, who are already getting used to the role of reservists. It is important for the Spanish team from the first minutes to take control of the game and push the opponent to their goal, and an additional creative player in the attack can help them with this. In addition, Karim Benzema is back in the ranks, who missed the match with Eibar due to minor damage. And Raphael Varane, who has been undergoing treatment for a couple of weeks, is already ready to play.
The Wolves also have no particular staffing problems, except for Jung, who has taken off for a long time and has problems with the groin of Calijuri. It is possible that Max Kruse, who was recently punished for unprofessional behavior outside the playing field, will start from the first minutes, and in the company of Draxler and Shyurrle he can cause a lot of problems for Keylor Navas.
The words
“It is necessary to maintain concentration from the first minute. We need to score, and we will have an hour and a half for this. You need to stay calm. The fans want to see quality play. I have no doubt that this is how we will play. "
"The favorite in our pair has not changed, but if we play our own football, then we have nothing to fear."
“The match will start with the result not in our favor, but we must not cheat on ourselves. You can't be wrong. We must maintain concentration from the first minutes. "
“We will rock on Tuesday 100 million percent, we will play as if our lives are on the line. There will be fireworks, the mood in the team is going through the roof. "
Real: Navas, Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Modric, Kroos, James, Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo
Wolfsburg: Benaglio, Vieirinha, Naldo, Dante, R. Rodriguez, Gustavo, Gilavogi, Arnold, Draxler, Kruse, Schürrle
Injured: Jung, Calijuri (questionable)
Disqualified: —
Sport Arena prediction: 4:1
Who will make it to the Champions League semi-finals?
- SportArena (@sportarenacom)
The first match
Today the first match of "kashiko" will take place, as the meeting of the main moneybags of the Champions League was called by analogy with the Spanish clasico .
Today. 21.45
(Match TV - 21.30)
WITH how many times have we heard the saying that football is not played with banknotes with coins, but real people! And it seems this season in persons with confirms these words. But the Champions League refutes.
This meeting has been expected since 2011, when a group of Qatari businessmen turned them into the nouveau riche. Three years before this deal, on the other side of the English Channel, good people from the UAE usurped power in, and so they came together - a wave and a stone, a bag and a purse.
It is interesting that the meeting of the moneybags is considered central in the quarter finals - only in a pair of PSG and Manchester City, the favorite is not clearly visible. The Parisians' odds look preferable. However, the composition of the "townspeople", according to the version transfermarkt. de , costs 90 million euros more. Not God knows what argument, of course, but since the Champions League proves a direct link between money and success, then “Manchester City” have even better chances of the semifinals.
True, the vice-champion of England on Wednesday, apparently, will have to do without the injured, and whose total cost exceeds a hundred million euros, so today the Parisian purse is a little thicker. Jokes aside, damage to three players of the central axis at once can directly affect the result. Delph and Hart returned to training on Tuesday, but their participation in the match is still in question.
Injuries to a number of players weakened City somewhat before the match against PSG. Photo REUTERS
The absence of the main goalkeeper of City is a chance for, who on Saturday exchanged three dozen goals in current championship France. No one in the strongest leagues in Europe has yet reached the number 30, unlike the eternal Swede and Higuain.
The other day the defenders of “PSG” and told a couple of funny stories about Zlatan. Thiago Silva told how the Swede, during a squabble with Gattuso, dropped the Italian right into the trash can. And David Louise admitted that he "kills" Ibrahimovic in training (whatever that means) - this is the only way to stop him.
Zlatan himself, if necessary, will kill someone. Ibrahimovic has a very clear goal for the spring - to get to a place where he has not been, that is, to the Champions League final. "Zlatan has won many trophies, but never won the Champions League. This is probably his the main objective for the rest of his career, - said the ex-coach of PSG Carlo Ancelotti. - I suppose this is what the Parisian club is thinking about now. Last season, PSG made it to the quarterfinals, and now they probably want to get into the top four. And there it is not far from the final. "
Tuesday. Paris. Zlatan IBRAGIMOVICH at the PSG training session. Photo REUTERS
Manchester City have equally ambitious goals. Yes, unlike “PSG”, “townspeople” made their way to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time, but this does not mean at all that it is possible to stop there. City have a nightmare situation in the Premier League - Pep Guardiola's future team could easily be left without the main club competition in Europe next season. Manuel Pellegrini is accused on all sides of negligence and almost revenge on the owners of the club for having prematurely announced the coaching castling. Of course, this is nonsense: the Chilean has always treated his work professionally. The Champions League semi-final will be tantamount to gagging his many critics.
FORECAST
Sergey YURAN, former striker of the Russian national team
1:0
An interesting confrontation. City is having a difficult period right now. The coach leaves in the summer. Motivation is clearly not up to par. So I think Parisians are favorites in this pair. They will win in the first match.
Forecast "SE" - 2: 0
PSG - Manchester City. Indicative compositions. Photo "SE"