Champions League: PSG scores two late goals to make semifinals
Catch the live commentary, stats, goals, updates, and highlights from the Champions League quarterfinal match between Atalanta and PSG in Lisbon, Portugal.
Published : Aug 12, 2020 20:30 IST
Welcome to the highlights of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal match between Atalanta and Paris Saint-Germain. This was Santadeep Dey bringing you all the action as it unfurled at Estadio da Luz. |
| FINAL SCORELINE | ATALANTA 1-2 PSG |
| 90 + 3' WHAT. A. TWIST. IN. THE. TALE (TAIL?)! IT'S NEVER DONE TILL IT'S DONE, ISN'T IT? Neymar picks Mbappe who squares it off to Choupo-Moting who has all but scored the winner. There will be a VAR check, though. It has been given. A little over three minutes ago, it seemed Atalanta was cruising through. However, it was not to be. |
| 90' GOOOAAAAAL! RIGHT AT THE END! Lady Luck chooses to finally shine on Tuchel's boys. Marquinhos is the man. There is a scuffle and a number of deflections later Neymar gets it in the path of the defender. All the latter had to do was tap in. |
90' There will be an added time of five minutes, ladies and gentlemen!
86' Choupo-Moting climbs to meet Draxler's corner but heads it over. Not happening...
85' Palomino. YELLOW. I guess Atalanta cannot go for a rash challenge anymore without going down to become a 10-member unit.
82' SUBSTITUTION: Castagne (in) - Gosens (out) (Atalanta); Da Riva (in) - Zapata (out) (Atalanta).
80' It's getting more precarious by the minute! Mbappe lets go again, fed by Neymar at the edge of the penalty area. Sportiello saves the day, yet again.
78' SUBSTITUTION: Rico does come in for Navas. The latter was clearly in some serious discomfort. Also, Choupo-Moting walks in for Icardi.
76' Neymar surges ahead beating a number of Atalanta players on the way. The outcome, though, stays the same as he has a half-hearted go at goal with Toloi holding him back within the box.
75' Yellow card! Paredes has been cautioned. How many of those did we see today? I have pretty much lost count.
74' This isn't PSG's day, is it? Or am I just jumping the gun? Mbappe breaks into a run down the left wing. His shot, however, has been blocked by the 'keeper.
72' SUBSTITUTIONS: Paredes (in) - Gueye (out) (Paris); Draxler (in) - Herrera (out) (Paris).
71' Well, what have we got here. Looks like Navas is cramping up. Sergio Rico is being brought on. Will this prove to be the turning point?
Wait a bit, scratch that... Rico was waiting to come on but now it looks like Navas is fit to continue. The referee wasn't happy with the delay there. Instead there will be two outfield changes for PSG.
70' SUBSTITUTION: Muriel (in) - Pašalić (out) (Atalanta)
67' Toloi gets a yellow now for a late challenge on French superstar Mbappe.
62' Mbappe works a cross into the box but there's no one to take care of it at the other end.
59' MULTIPLE SUBSTITUTIONS: Malinovskyi (in) - Gómez (out) (Atalanta); Mbappé (in) - Sarabia (out) (Paris); Palomino (in) - Djimsiti (out) (Atalanta).
58' Djimsiti hits it wide! A Gomez free-kick has been knocked down and Jimmy fires a volley from only about 10 yards out but it swings off target.
57' We are exclusively blogging Yellow Cards now... Papu, who was already limping, has been brought down by Herrera.
55' ANOTHER? Yeah, precisely. This time it is a Paris player getting booked though. Bernat is shown the yellow card for a foul on Palasic.
53' YELLOW CARD: Zapata becomes Atalanta's fourth player to go into the ref's book for a foul on Kehrer.
50' YELLOW CARD! De Roon has been cautioned for an ugly challenge on Neymar. We have Mbappe limbering up. How long till he walks in?
47' A Djimsiti header off the corner crashes on the roof of the net after taking another deflection. Consecutive corners!
46' Marten de Roon goes for the trigger from quiet some distance. It takes a deflection off a PSG defender to go for an early corner in the second half.
HALF-TIME: While Neymar would want to quickly push whatever happened in the first 45 minutes to the back of his mind, Atalanta will be a happy unit. However, with the high-risk game that the Italian side often tends to play, they would quickly want to add a second insurance goal to enjoy some breathing space.
45 + 1' YELLOW CARD! Freuler has been booked for a shirt tug.
45' There will only be a minute of added play.
44' Caldara has been good at the Atalanta defence today. He continues the good show, steering a Marquinhos header to safety.
42' Neymar makes a mess of it. AGAIN x 3! That man has been getting everything right except for getting the ball between the posts tonight. He dances around the Atalanta defence only to end up launching the ball into outer space. I. CANNOT. BELIEVE. THIS. IS. HAPPENING.
40' Tuchel isn't a happy man. And we don't blame him. Neymar makes the customary dash down the left flank. He waits for Icardi and just when one thought this might be one of the signature 'Icardi tap-ins' the ball rolls away as the Argentine goes down within the box.
37' YELLOW CARD! Djimsiti goes into the referee's book for executing a terrible challenge on an onrushing Icardi.
34' Freuler concedes a free-kick, from about 25 metres out, for a foul on Gueye. Neymar takes it. He gets it over the wall successfully but it heads straight to Sportiello.
28'Almost an equaliser and Neymar's the man, again! He follows on from a vicious nutmeg on Palasic from deep to have a shot after creating some space at the goal from about 20 metres out. It flies just off target.
| 27' PAASAAALIIIC! Atalanta's magical run in continental competitions might just continue as we have the first goal of the UCL quarterfinals. This was coming, wasn't it? Zapata's intercepted effort finds Pasalic on the right off a ricochet and he calmly curls it left-footed into the far top corner. |
21' Pasalic now! Another threatening Gomez set-piece has been rendered harmless by PSG's Costa Rican shot-stopper after Pasalic got his head to it.
18' NEYMAR HAS WASTED IT AGAIN! The Brazilian makes a dash up left and looks to cut it back to Icardi who is quite some yards short. The ball strays away to no man's land.
14' Atalanta is pushing and how! Djimsiti gets his head on a Freuler free-kick but it sails wide of the target.
11' A corner has been awarded to Atalanta. Gomez to deliver. He curls it in but the defence clears it or does it? No! The ball has been played back in and a header from CALLDAARAA... the flag's up for offside! Navas is being constantly tested tonight.
10' CLOSE! Almost thought Hataboer had it. A typical Atalanta gameplay sees Gomez rush up the left flank to play on a long ball to the Dutch right-back in the box. He breaks into a run and gets his head to it but the effort was mistimed and Navas punches it off the bounce.
8' Atalanta's Hateboer concedes a free-kick for a foul on Bernat. Navas to take it.
3' NEYMAR MISSES A SITTER! The star striker plays a lovely one-two with Icardi and soon beats the defence with some decent pace and finds himself one-on-one with Sportiello.He tries to open up the play and curl it into the net but the effort goes horribly wrong in the end. Mbappe, on the bench, cannot believe his eyes. 2' We already have the first shot on target and it is the Italian side which is looking to make early inroads. Papu Gomez's shot from 17 yards out has been saved by Navas.
KICKOFF: Atalanta has set the ball rolling!
A moment of silence is being observed in memory of all victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The teams are lining up for the UEFA Champions League anthem.
- Will Angel Di Maria's absence be felt tonight? Only time will tell...
- The sprinklers have come back on for one last time. Only five minutes to go now.
- Neymar is engrossed in some intense shooting practice. Will he prove to be the game-changer tonight?
- Mbappe, Muriel and Malinovskyi are all on the bench. What role will they play tonight? Tweet @sportstarweb with #ATAPSG and #UCL to be a part of the conversation.
- We are just 30 minutes away from the kickoff and both the sides are already out warming up on the pitch. The skies are clear and the temperature reads 22 degree Celsius. Should be one cracker of a game tonight!
- Atalanta to start in its traditional blue-black kit. PSG to wear white.
PLAYING XI AND SUBSTITUTESAtalanta: Sportiello; Toloi, Caldara, Djimsiti; Hateboer, De Roon, Freuler, Gosens; Gomez, Pasalic; Duvan Zapata. Subs: Gelmi, Rossi, Sutalo, Palomino, Czyborra, Muriel, Piccoli, Malinovskyi, Da Rica, Castagne, Bellanova, Colley PSG: Navas; Kehrer, Thiago Silva, Kimpembe, Bernat; Herrera, Marquinhos, Gueye; Neymar, Icardi, Sarabia. Subs: Rico, Bulka, Mbappé, Paredes, Choupo-Moting, Diallo, Draxler, Bakker, Kalimuendo-Muinga, Dagba, Ruiz-Atil, Mbe Soh |
MATCH PREVIEW Free-scoring Atalanta will take on French giant Paris Saint-Germain in the first quarterfinal. On paper, PSG looks stronger. However, the Ligue 1 side is yet to prove its mettle in the business end of the tournament as it has not been beyond the quarterfinals stage for about a decade now.
Thomas Tuchel's PSG defeated Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16, marking its first win in the knock-out stages after four years. Unfortunately for the Ligue 1 champion, major names are expected to miss out. While Marco Verratti is injured and Kylian Mbappe is doubtful due to an ankle problem, midfielder Angel Di Maria remains suspended. WATCH | Paris Saint-Germain's final preparations for Champions League quarterfinal
This will result in added responsibility for Neymar, who will lead his team's charge against Serie A's Atalanta. The Bergamo side, which finished third in the league for the second consecutive time, has managed to reach the knock-out stage in its debut Champions League campaign.READ |
Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta, which scored a staggering 98 goals in 38 league matches, will rely heavily on the exploits of Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel. Josip Ilicic, who scored all four goals when Atalanta won 4-3 in March to eliminate Valencia 8-4 on aggregate, will be missing in action as he has travelled back to Slovenia due to personal reasons.
PREDICTED XI Atalanta (3-4-1-2): Pierluigi Gollini, Rafael Toloi, Jose Luis Palomino, Berat Djimsiti, Timothy Castagne, Marten de Roon, Remo Freuler, Robin Gosens, Mario Pasalic, Alejandro Gomez, Duvan Zapata PSG (4-3-3): Keylor Navas, Thilo Kehrer, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Juan Bernat, Idrissa Gueye, Leandro Paredes, Ander Herrera, Neymar, Mauro Icardi, Pablo Sarabia |
HEAD-TO-HEAD This is the first time that Atalanta has made the UCL cut. The side has never faced Paris Saint-Germain before.
ALSO WATCH |Mbappé and Paris Saint-Germain begin preparations ahead of Atalanta
Atalanta form guide: D-W-D-W-L
PSG form guide: W-W-W-W-D STAT ATTACK - The 2019/20 edition will see the latest ending of a UEFA Champions League/European Cup campaign in history. Previously, the latest knockout game in the competition was the first final, played on June 13, 1956 between Real Madrid and Reims.
- This will be the first competitive game between Atalanta and PSG. Atalanta’s only previous encounter with a French club in a European competition was against Lyon in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League group stages – the Bergamo side drew 1-1 in France and won 1-0 at home.
- PSG has never won a single game against an Italian opposition in the UEFA Champions League (D4, L2). It has also never kept a clean sheet in those six matches.
- Despite losing its opening three games this season, Atalanta is the first UEFA Champions League debutant to reach the quarterfinals of the competition since Leicester City in 2016/17 and the first Italian side to do so since Lazio in the 1999/2000 campaign.
- PSG is in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2015/16. It hasn't reached the final four of the competition since 1994/95 – that season, it was knocked out by AC Milan (0-3 aggregate), the only previous time it has faced an Italian opposition in the knockout stages of the competition. ALSO WATCH | Behind the scenes of PSG's training camp in Faro
WHERE CAN YOU WATCH THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS LIVE? UCL quarterfinal match Atalanta vs PSG will be telecast on Sony Ten 2 and Sony Ten 3 (Hindi) . The match will also be available for live streaming on the SonyLIV app. |