Saint-Germain escapes the "Atalanta Trap" and spares Parisians
Paris Saint-Germain was about to bid farewell to the quarter-finals of the European Champions League in front of the surprise of the Italian season, Atalanta, but scored twice in a deadly time and reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1995 on his fiftieth birthday yesterday in Lisbon. Atalanta advanced with the goal of Croatian Mario Pasalic (27) behind closed doors due to the repercussions of the new Corona virus, but Saint-Germain just crossed the Brazilian Marquinhos (90), then scored the winning goal in the third minute of the substitution time for lost through Cameroonian substitute Eric Maxim Chubu-Moting.
Saint-Germain hit a date with the winner between Spain’s Atletico Madrid and Leipzig of Germany, who also meet Thursday in Lisbon. Saint-Germain's qualification came on the day of its fiftieth anniversary, and almost paid dearly for injuries and absences in its ranks.
His young striker, Kylian Mbappe, sat on the bench for not having fully recovered from his ankle injury, and at the last half hour he entered to form a torch of activity on the left corridor. His stars, Italian defensive midfielder Marco Verratti, and Argentine attacking midfielder, Angel Di Maria, were absent.
Brazilian star Neymar has avoided extra jinx with the continental competition after three seasons since his record transfer from Barcelona for 222 million euros. He suffered a broken metatarsal in his foot to miss the elimination against Real Madrid in 2018, and then the depressing scenario was repeated in 2019 with another metatarsal injury and a new elimination against Manchester United.
Despite the enormous difference in capabilities between the team coming from the city of Bergamo, afflicted by the new Corona virus, and Saint-Germain, Atalanta was the most successful in the first half, before he deposited the competition with courage, bending in front of the two goals of the German coach Thomas Tuchel's team.