From our special envoy to Dortmund,
Unrecognizable in an unprecedented and pathetic 3-4-3, PSG fell Tuesday night in Dortmund in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League. Thomas Tuchel's men will have to catch up in three weeks if they want to hope to (finally) see the quarter-finals of the competition.
Tuchel plays Lolo White
It was well worth squeezing the ciboulot for days to find out who from Bernat or Kurzawa and Icardi or Sarabia were going to join the 4-4-2 set up by Thomas Tuchel since December. Tuesday evening, the PSG coach took everyone on the wrong foot by laying a 3-4-3 out of nowhere with the trio Marqui-Thiago Silva-Kimpembe in the axis, Kurzawa and Meunier on the wings and Mbappé In tip. Even Laurent Blanc and his “surprise pouch” composition at City in 2016 must have seen nothing but fire. Was it a desire to adapt to his opponent or to the uncertain physical form of some of his players? A bit of both surely. What is certain is that it did not prevent the Borussens from chaining the supersonic counterattacks and annoying a Keylor Navas promoted to lifeguard on the beautiful coiled Sancho (27th).
A little emptiness and a lot of nothing
We thought about it, from memory, not remember seeing a PSG team being eaten at this point in all areas. In the first period, there was not a Parisian to catch up with the other - if not Navas, therefore - and the draw at the break was more of a miracle than anything else. The Paris defense has left more space behind its back than Thomas Pesquet in the ISS and the middle of recuperators Gueye-Verratti was absent subscribers. What can we say about the offensive trio Di Maria-Neymar-Mbappé? No more fantastic three and place in the Bermuda triangle, where talent, daring and ideas disappear from radars as if by (dis) enchantment. Alone in front, Mbappé has proven that he was not a true top striker in the purest sense of the word, while Di Maria barely liquefied the kick off.
Hi, I'm Haaland, Erling Haaland
The Bundesliga knew him well since his arrival in Dortmund this winter, now Europe is on its knees before this 19-year-old kid. After a first marten goal two meters from the cages (69th) and a Parisian equalization signed Neymar (75th), Erling Haaland ignited the Signal Iduna Park by firing a surface-to-air missile from the left from outside the surface, direction the Costa Rican goalkeeper's skylight. By slamming his tenth and eleventh goal in seven games in Dortmund's jersey, the baby-headed golgoth makes a dramatic entry into these final stages of the Champions League. The opposite of PSG.
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