Lisbon (AFP)

He was not even to be there: Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, an unqualified time for the competition, delivered Paris SG against Atalanta (2-1), Wednesday, with a goal at the end of additional time which sent his team to the Champions League semi-finals.

His entry into play (79th), in place of Mauro Icardi, looked like a game of poker for his trainer Thomas Tuchel who, until then, had not found the key to the Lombard lock.

"Choupo", the man of the end of the match, eternal replacement, whose most famous feat of arms was to prevent his teammate Christopher Nkunku from scoring, with an improbable technical gesture on his line, in April 2019.

Since the start of the year, he no longer even appeared on the list of eligible players to compete in C1, relegated to the end of the offensive hierarchy behind superstars not used to sharing minutes.

As a logical consequence, his contract has not been renewed for the start of the school year.

But the departure at the end of June of Edinson Cavani put him back in the workforce ... and indirectly offered PSG a sacred moment of history, on his fiftieth birthday.

The Cameroonian international first delivered the center for Neymar who then served Marquinhos for the equalizer (90th). Above all, it is he who takes the pass from Mbappé to offer the qualification, unexpected, to PSG (90th + 3).

Choupo-Moting thus scored, at 31, his very first goal in the Champions League!

- "We really believe in us" -

"We have a good time together on and off the pitch together. We have already won four titles this season but the most important thing is this one. We really believe in ourselves and we did it today" , said the striker after the final whistle.

"Everyone knows that we have high quality individuals but we wanted to show it as a team as well. We have never won the Champions League and with such a team, we must have this kind of ambition. It's such a great club, we will give everything in the next game and continue to believe in it, "added the hero of the day.

"He is very good in training, he accepts his role in this team, in the hierarchy he is behind Mbappé and Icardi, that's clear," Tuchel explained in mid-July.

The goal of Choupo-Moting is also a great victory for Tuchel, who knew the native of Hamburg in Mainz. It is the German technician who attracted in 2018 the striker without much reference, who remained on a season without relief in Stoke City.

The coach appreciates his fighting skills and his state of mind in the center forward, he who likes to appear on social networks, in trendy places in the capital or on skate at Camp des Loges.

"It gives", he likes to say. Against Atalanta, he gave. And PSG is ready to receive even more.

© 2020 AFP