Tuchel wins the final in Paris: Nagelsmann is furious after Neymar’s little dance

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

In the event of defeat, Thomas Tuchel might have been relieved, but the Paris Saint-Germain coach cheers at the final whistle. Last year’s Champions League finalist beats last year’s semi-finalist RB Leipzig and topped the Bundesliga club in the table.

Great dominance, but not Neymar: RB Leipzig suddenly have to tremble again to advance to the second round of the Champions League. Coach Julian Nagelsmann’s playfully superior team lost the match at Paris St. Germain, which had been called up for the group “final”, with a penalty goal from returnees Neymar (11th) with 0: 1 (0: 1 ). On the table, RB had to let the French series champions overtake them in second place, and the lost direct comparison (first leg: 2: 1) speaks against Leipzig.

Nagelsmann was angry at the umpire team after the game. “The penalty was an absolute joke. It’s a clear drink. That bothers me. The video referee was probably watching another game,” the coach grumbled, adding: “In games like this, the nuances decide. The nuance was the referee. today”. On the other hand, his counterpart Thomas Tuchel was happy: “We have players who have not had regular training for weeks. We come to the game every three days. I am happy with the result. We had the necessary bit of luck. We have the result, we needed. We have no reason to apologize. ”

Neymar’s goal, which was otherwise well controlled by the Leipzig team, like the injured Kylian Mbappé, was particularly important for Tuchel. In case of a defeat, the set of stars would have threatened the group and, therefore, the dismissal of Tuchel. In his personal “finale”, Tuchel trained on the sidelines with many gestures and words. Leipzig was unable to use the uncertainty of the previous season’s semi-final opponent for itself, although the team was dominant after the initial deficit.

In the two remaining group matches in Basaksehir Istanbul (December 2) and against Manchester United (December 8), the third Bundesliga must now win as much as possible and hope the competition slips away. Leipzig built the sick Parisians who had ruined the dress rehearsal against AS Monaco (2: 3) early in the game. After a catastrophic bad pass from defender Dayot Upamecano in the preparation game, Marcel Sabitzer got too impetuous in the duel against Angel di Maria in the penalty area: penalty. Neymar did not miss the chance, although RB goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi was still on the ball with his fingertips.

Leipzig applies fruitless pressure

RB was not surprised in any way, but wanted to fight back immediately. Almost in return, Sabitzer’s long-range shot was blocked and Upamecano controlled PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas in the corner that followed. Paris, who had to dispense with injured German internationals Julian Draxler and Thilo Kehrer, among others, left the ball to the guests and retreated further to their own court to counter Neymar and Mbappé when the ball was won. But Leipzig collectively managed to keep the two superstars from initially being dangerous in the game. Both Neymar and Mbappé were left with a long break due to injury. Perhaps out of frustration, Neymar received his second yellow card after a foul on Sabitzer (40th). The Brazilian will have to watch the next game at Manchester United.

Initially, Leipzig were unable to develop the extremely high penetrating power of numerous ball possessions. Although the PSG defense had to change again in terms of personnel, it was relatively safe with substitute defender Marquinhos and former Dortmund player Abdou Diallo. With the chances of Yussuf Poulsen (36th), Amadou Haidara (38th) and Emil Forsberg (45th + 1) before the half-time whistle, RB wasn’t necessarily enough.

After the break, RB increased the pressure again, but there were hardly any gaps against the PSG defense. Paris stuck to his tactic and was very low, the counterattacks were less and less.