Paris Saint-Germain entertained Real Madrid at the Parc des Princes earlier tonight as they hoped to secure a positive result in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last 16 tie. PSG made a good start to the game but were not able to break the opposition down in the first 45 minutes as they went into the half-time interval with a goalless scoreline.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men pushed on in search of the winning goal in the second half and finally got their noses ahead in the 94th minute when Kylian Mbappe scored with a brilliant finish. The match ended with the Parisian giants securing a last-gasp 1-0 win at home.
Let’s take a look at how each Paris Saint-Germain player performed during the clash against Los Blancos.
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma – 6.5/10
The Italy international did not have a save to make in the game and secured an easy clean sheet at home.
RB: Achraf Hakimi – 7.5/10
Hakimi didn’t put a foot wrong on the defensive end of the field. He did well to engineer a few inviting chances for others around him and made two good runs with the ball.
CB: Marquinhos – 6.5/10
The Brazilian centre-back cleared the danger when needed and was tidy with his passing. He will be happy with the clean sheet tonight.
CB: Presnel Kimpembe – 6.5/10
He was a rock at the back and did enough to keep the Real Madrid attackers at bay during the 90 minutes.
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LB: Nuno Mendes – 7.5/10
Mendes got stuck in with some solid tackles to make life difficult for the opposition. He even completed a couple of dangerous dribbles down the left wing.
CM: Danilo Pereira – 6/10
He had a couple of bright moments in the final third but struggled to get into the rhythm of the game.
CM: Leandro Paredes – 6.5/10
Paredes anchored the midfield well by earning possession back a couple of times for his team at the centre of the park.
CM: Marco Verratti – 8/10
The Italian sensation offered decent protection for his teammates at the back and made a lot of decent chances for his teammates in the opponent’s half.
RW: Angel Di Maria – 6/10
The Argentine talent showed a few flashes of his brilliance but didn’t do enough to score during the game.
ST: Lionel Messi – 7/10
Messi caused all sorts of problems for the Real Madrid defenders because of his excellent creativity and dribbling. However, he will be disappointed for missing a penalty tonight.
LW: Kylian Mbappe – 9/10
Mbappe was a constant menace in the final third and stepped up when his teammates needed him the most by scoring a great goal in the dying embers of the game.
Substitutes:
LW: Neymar Jr. – 6.5/10
He picked up an assist for setting up Mbappe’s match-winner.
CM: Idrissa Gueye – N/A
Gueye didn’t get enough minutes to warrant a rating.
