With the game’s final kick, substitute Angel Correa scored a thrilling winner as Atletico Madrid defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 on the road on Wednesday, launching their Champions League campaign and severely undermining the French team’s chances of qualifying for Europe.
In their first-ever meeting, Warren Zaire-Emery’s early opener for PSG was swiftly cancelled out by Nahuel Molina, giving the impression that the match at the Parc des Princes would end in a tie.
Atletico did not appear to be winning it until Correa’s goal in the 93rd minute, but PSG’s poor Champions League finish throughout the season was evident here as well as they missed numerous opportunities to score.
Given that goalie Jan Oblak had to make multiple saves in the second half, the Spaniards would have been the happier of the two teams with a draw.
With the league phase now halfway over, the victory puts Atletico back on track to at least make the play-off round of this new-look Champions League after they lost back-to-back games against Benfica and Lille.
“Today PSG played better but we had the extra force that we lacked against Lille,” said Atletico coach Diego Simeone.
“We came here missing five players, we conceded a goal early on, but the team did not collapse.”
The evening was also notable for the pre-match unfurling by PSG fans at one end of the stadium of an enormous banner in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
“War on the pitch but peace in the world,” said the banner, which also featured a Lebanese flag.
That may lead to disciplinary action from UEFA, but that will probably be the least of PSG’s worries now.
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