In contrast to the first semi-final of the Champions League, the confrontation between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City aroused interest exclusively from a sporting point of view. None of the teams had to fear possible pressure from the referees because of the preservation of their registration in the Super League, and they have already crossed paths in the main European Cup. In 2016, the teams met at the quarter-finals stage, and then the British were successful. At the Parc des Princes, the rivals dispersed in peace (2: 2), and at the Etihad, the hosts won with a minimum score. It is noteworthy that from that moment on, the "townspeople" managed to change the coach (Manuel Pellegrini lost his post to Josep Guardiola), but the goal-scorers remained in the squad. Kevin De Bruyne and Fernandinho not only remained loyal to the club, but also got into the application for this game.
At the same time, the main intrigue was whether the top scorer of the Parisians will be able to enter the field this season. Until the last day, the physical condition of Kilian Mbappe caused serious concerns, but the French striker still managed to recover from the injury and ended up at the base. A couple in the attack was Neymar, and in the center of defense came the captain of PSG - Marquinhos. The Brazilian himself recently recovered from injury, but did not allow himself to miss such an important match.
As it turned out, it was the Latin American defender who became one of the main characters of the first half.
Already in the 15th minute, Marquinhos went into someone else's penalty area, responded to the verified canopy of Angel Di Maria from a corner and hit Ederson's goal.
The Parisian captain has scored for the fifth time in the last 12 matches of the tournament and became the leader in goals among the representatives of the defense, if we take into account the last two seasons.
And what is important, four accurate hits fell on the playoffs.
It should be noted that the corners became one of the hosts' main trump cards in the first half.
Even before the goal of Marquinhos, the drawing of the standard led to a dangerous blow in the performance of Neymar, and a few minutes later Leandro Paredes had an excellent moment.
The ex-Zenit midfielder won the fight in the opponent's penalty area and almost increased the score difference, but the ball missed the post.
In general, the first half did not turn out the way many experts expected. Although City had a territorial advantage, possession of the ball was sterile - without moving forward and creating dangerous moments. Paris Saint-Germain, on the other hand, tried to squeeze the maximum out of every approach to the opponent's goal. Neymar looked more active than others, who managed to chalk up two shots on target, and in the end he almost earned an 11-meter. The Brazilian, in his usual manner, fell in the penalty area after the slightest touch, but the referee Felix Brykh did not react in any way. And he did absolutely right, because his teammate Alessandro Florenzi set up the striker.
Everything went to the fact that at the end of the first 45 minutes in the assets of Guardiola's wards there would be only one shot on target of Keylor Navas. But the Parisians suddenly loosened their grip and began to flirt more and more often, for which they almost paid. Overpassing at his own penalty area led to a loss when Kyle Walker covered the sluggish Mbappe well. Bernardo Silva rolled out a pass to Phil Foden, but he shot right in the center.
The first 15 minutes of the second half were dictated by Manchester City, but were not the most intense. The guests tightly took control of the ball, and Mauricio Pochettino's charges did not oppose. They dug in tightly near their own penalty area, and left Mbappe ahead with the expectation of his high-speed jerks. And this rate was almost justified. In the course of one of the counterattacks, the Frenchman responded to Di Maria's long throw, “wound up” two defenders and rolled along the alignment, but Marco Verratti did not have time to close the cross. Perhaps Neymar would have done better, but at that moment the Brazilian was lying at his own penalty area after the next joint.
After an hour of play, Guardiola made the first substitution in the match. True, it was not Rakhim Sterling, who unexpectedly remained on the bench, or the forward Gabriel Jesus, but left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, who appeared on the field. And the Spanish mentor was right. Three minutes later, it was the Ukrainian who rolled out a pass to De Bruyne and actually became the author of the assist. The Belgian performed a cross into the penalty area, which eventually became an insidious blow, and established himself in the status of PSG's evil genius. Apart from him, only Lionel Messi, Marcus Rashford and Neymar managed to upset the Parisians in three or more Champions League meetings in a row.
And seven minutes later, City finally turned the tide of the confrontation. The guests earned a dangerous free kick 25 meters from the opponent's goal, and De Bruyne and Riyad Marez volunteered to execute it. Navas probably expected that the Belgian would beat, but he miscalculated, and even the partners let him down at the most crucial moment. The ball after hitting the Algerian flew exactly into the gap formed between Presnelom Kimpembe and Verratti, the star goalkeeper was again out of work.
The footballers of the French team were clearly not ready for such a development of events and were unable to cope with emotions. First, Neymar kicked Ruben Dias on the leg, and a few minutes later, Idrissa Geye's nerves lost their nerves. The Senegalese spiked from behind drove into Ilkay Gundogan's leg and deservedly received a direct red card. To close the gap in the center of the field, Pochettino had to send Di Maria to rest and release the holding midfielder Danilo Pereira, significantly reducing the attacking potential of the team.
The appearance of the Portuguese, as well as the subsequent exit of Ander Herrera instead of Paredes, helped PSG to slightly ease the pressure on Navas's goal, but did not contribute to the emergence of bright episodes in the other half. Mbappe did not look his best, and Neymar could not pull out a draw on his own. Manchester City won their 18th away match in all tournaments in a row and maximized their own chances of reaching the final. Until now, in the history of the European Cup and Champions League, teams from England have consistently advanced to the next stage of the playoffs if they won away in the first meeting.