Young guns prove PSG can deliver in the Champions League without Mbappé
PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain finally showed it can shine in the Champions League without star Kylian Mbappé, rallying from 2-0 down in the second half to beat Manchester City 4-2 for a crucial victory Wednesday.
The win moved PSG out of the elimination zone in the competition's new-look format and dumped City in it with one game to play. PSG needs only a draw at Stuttgart next week to advance.
“I feel pride this evening, against such a team, against such a manager, against such good players,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said. "It was a complete performance today.”
PSG’s re-designed attack finally clicked with four different scorers rather than relying too heavily on one to make the difference.
Bradley Barcola, a 22-year-old winger, scored one goal and set up another for France teammate Ousmane Dembélé, and 20-year-old midfielder Joao Neves headed in the third before striker Gonçalo Ramos rammed in the fourth in stoppage time.
“The more competition we have, the happier I am,” Enrique said. “That means that no player can think of their position as untouchable.”
A far cry from the Galacticos era when PSG was top-heavy with stars like Neymar, Lionel Messi and Mbappé but still fell short on the big stage.
Still, the French team has struggled for goals in the competition since Mbappé’s offseason departure for Real Madrid, netting just six in six games before City's visit and being blanked in defeats to Arsenal and Bayern Munich.
Enrique said before facing City that the solution up front would come from more teamwork rather than hoping another player can emulate Mbappé, who scored 44 goals last season and helped PSG reach the Champions League semifinals.
City manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged his team was outplayed.
“We have to accept it. In transitions we could not cope with them, they were faster,” he said. “I give credit to PSG. When one team is better I have no problem to accept it. All of them they played really good. It’s not a specific (player)."
Mbappé's move to Madrid forced Enrique to improvise with his lineups all season.
This time, 19-year-old winger Désiré Doué played as a makeshift striker even though center forward Ramos was available for this game where both wealthy state-backed teams — the United Arab Emirates (City) and Qatar (PSG) — were at risk of failing to advance to the knockout stage.
City led 2-0 after 53 minutes but PSG were level by the hour mark after some inspirational play down the left from Barcola. He skipped past Savinho before picking out Dembélé near the penalty spot, and then the 22-year-old Barcola equalized by squeezing a shot in off the left post after Doué’s effort came back off the crossbar.
The diminutive Neves stooped to head in a free kick from the right in the 78th minute.
Dembélé also hit the crossbar with a rasping shot with 20 minutes left and PSG had two other goals ruled out for offside.
PSG's players sprinted to celebrate with their fans at the final whistle and club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi clenched his fist.
“This team has a lot of things going for it. This match will strengthen my players, they’re young and haven’t had too much experience in games like this," Enrique said. "This team won’t ever give up, even when they’re two goals down.”
So maybe losing Mbappé won't be so bad after all.
“We’re a young team but a team with character,” Al-Khelaifi told broadcaster Canal Plus. “A lot of players doubted our team, but I always had confidence in them.”
Al-Khelaifi praised Enrique's impact.
“I think we have the best coach in the world,” he said. “We are playing with character, identity, DNA.”
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