Paris Saint-Germain, knocked out of the French Cup in the round of 16 by Olympique Marseille (2-1), gave up their first title of the season, lost the option to add a trophy poker to their showcases and will have to focus on winning the League and Champions League to qualify for the treble (he won the French Super Cup in the summer).
A spectacular goal by Ruslan Marinovsky ended the superiority of the Parisian team in all competitions. It’s been going steady so far, with some cracks but no significant water leaks. Hardly anyone was able to cough up the almighty PSG, who finally got down on one knee in a disappointing classic.
With the Stade Vélodrome filled to capacity, both Igor Tudor’s and Christophe Galtier’s teams offered a show that could be extrapolated to an expected final and in which there was a team, Olympique Marseille, that had more needs beforehand than its rival.
Eliminated from the Champions League, with no presence in the Europa League and eight points clear of Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1, the cup was the burning nail that Marseille had to hold on to.
On the other hand, PSG still didn’t have the taste of an elimination. They won the French Supercup against Nantes (4-0) in the summer, qualified for the Champions League round of 16 (against Bayern Munich) and lead Ligue 1 with an iron fist. of course he has expressed some doubts, until this wednesday he had not had any level shock.
Without the -injured- Kylian Mbappé, he faced one of the most complicated duels of the entire season. A visit to the Vélodrome isn’t always a palatable dish for PSG, who took to the pitch overwhelmed by the atmosphere and were at the mercy of their rival for half an hour, who didn’t squeeze all the juice out of their domain. Apart from an early attempt by Nuno Mendes to which Pau López reacted, the first leg was practically a monologue for Olympique Marseille.
The string of occasions was intense: Jordan Veretout tried with a clear shot that went over the crossbar; later Malinovsky forced Gianluigi Donnarumma to work hard; Sead Kolasinac also brushed off the target with a shot that grazed a stick; and finally, Matteo Guendouzi met Donnarumma twice.
And when it seemed that the storm was calming down, Sergio Ramos seemed to make life more complicated for Paris Saint-Germain. Awaiting his extension at the French club, he was out of order in a race with Cengiz Ünder, who beat him at speed and then fell into the area clearly blocked by the Spanish centre-back.
Alexis Sánchez did not miss the maximum penalty and confirmed the good first part of Olympique Marseille, which, however, withdrew in the final stage, played with fire and burned. After a warning from Neymar, who hit a ball against the post, it was Sergio Ramos who equalized to correct his mistake. With a house brand header, almost in the third minute of stoppage time and after a corner taken by Messi, they equalized in a game that would be decided in the second half.
The next 45 minutes, in the face of a dog, messier and with no clear dominator, soon had another protagonist: Malinovsky. The Ukrainian put Olympique Marseille ahead again with a spectacular surface-to-air missile, unstoppable for Donnarumma, a luxurious spectator of the big goal of the cup day in France.
His goal, in the 56th minute, knocked out Paris Saint-Germain, who had just over half an hour to avoid the trip. However, only Messi came close to scoring with a deflected shot and the Argentines’ was the only spark for a team that finally surrendered to the great game against Olympique Marseille, the first executioner of the season for the Parisian team.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
