Stuck in a terrible negative spiral as the Bavarians loom at the Parc des Princes in the round of 16 first leg of C1, the Parisians can rejoice to leave La Mosson with a victory after two failures in a row in the league.

But the loss of their main offensive asset casts a chill over the perspective of this great meeting.

Everything went wrong for Mbappé, who started his match by missing two penalties in quick succession, the referee having decided to withdraw the first, already stopped by Benjamin Lecomte.

The worst was yet to come: the 2018 world champion, hit in the left thigh, had to give up his place after 20 minutes, enough to fuel doubt around the Parisian team before the reception of Bayern.

Paris SG striker Kylian Mbappé is treated on the lawn during a Ligue 1 match in Montpellier on February 1, 2023 © Sylvain THOMAS / AFP

The only satisfaction for the troops of Christophe Galtier, who prevailed on goals from Fabian Ruiz, Lionel Messi and Warren Zaire-Emery, is to have contained OM, new runner-up after their success in Nantes (2-0 ) and still maintained at five points.

The Marseillais did not create huge chances at La Beaujoire but were able to take advantage of a gross defensive error from Nantes, opening the scoring after the break on an own goal from the unfortunate Joao Victor.

It was then Azzedine Ounahi, one of the Moroccan heroes of the 2022 World Cup, who stood out by doubling the bet at the end of the match for his big debut in the colors of Olympians.

Nice operation from OM

OM took advantage of the failure of Lens, defeated at Bollaert by Nice (1-0) and now 3rd.

The Sang et Or mark time with this second match without a win while the Aiglons have been reinvigorated since the arrival at the controls of Didier Digard and are in 8th position after a gloomy first part of the season under the orders of Lucien Favre.

Moroccan rookie OM Azzedine Ounahi scores against Nantes on February 1, 2023 at La Beaujoire © Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP

Monaco (4th), winner of Auxerre (3-2), and Rennes (5th), which easily disposed of Strasbourg thanks to a double from Amine Gouiri (3-0), hold the other two European places.

The reunion with the rebellious public of Groupama Stadium, however, did not go as desired for the Lyonnais, unable to dominate Brest (0-0).

Reims (11th) continues to make a strong impression.

Three days after bringing back a draw from Paris at the last second (1-1), the Champenois stretched their beautiful series of invincibility to 13 games against Lorient (4-2), featherless in attack in the winter transfer window with the departures of striker Terem Moffi (Nice) and winger Dango Ouattara (Bournemouth).

Will Still's men were able to count on the insolent success of Folarin Balogun, author of a hat-trick and now at the top of the scoring charts with 14 goals, one unit ahead of Kylian Mbappé.

Finally, in a duel of poorly ranked, the red lantern Angers, reduced to 10 in the second half, broke a sad record by being the first Ligue 1 club to concede 13 consecutive defeats against Ajaccio (2-1).

© 2023 AFP