On the large, rectangular table in the middle of the home dressing room in the Parc des Princes, Kylian Mbappe and Presnel Kimpembe jump as much as they can. Water is poured on them, Sergio Rico joins them, just like Idrissa Gueye and Rafinha. Other players and staff members beat the table in rhythm as they sing, “We are in the semis! We are, we are, we are in the semis!”
Marquinhos, in his impeccable white hoodie, is also there. He was injured and missed Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich – a result that was good enough to see Paris Saint-Germain progress to the next stage of the Champions League on away goals – but we could hear his voice from the tribune down, to encourage his teammates.
Leandro Paredes, one of the leaders of this group, continues to shout, ‘Vamos! Vamos! ‘ every time he embraces a teammate. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi welcomed every player back into the locker room and wished each and every one of them a second chance by going to the venue, as did Leonardo, the sporting director.
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The manager, Mauricio Pochettino, has to leave to do all his media duties after the end of the year, but the big smile on his face says it all. It’s a happy dressing room – a very happy dressing room. PSG are in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the second consecutive season, and they are slowly but surely securing their place among the top European clubs and multi-year Champions League candidates.
This time they came in the right way – over two legs, which beat Lionel Messi first, and now Bayern, the world and European champions. Each time, it was a real struggle, a nail-biting scenario. But in both ties was the spirit and solidarity of Paris Saint-Germain.
Of course, Kylian Mbappe and Keylor Navas were the heroes of the two matches against Barcelona and the one in Munich. Strikingly, the Costa Rica keeper has yet to lose a two-legged Champions League game in which he played. And Neymar, who was selected as the man of the match on Tuesday, was again the star of the show, even if he had at least one of the chances he created.
However, Paris went through because they played as a team in the first place. This is the message Pochettino has been telling his players since day one: We can have great individuals like Neymar, Mbappe or Angel Di Maria, but we can only go far if we do it all, otherwise it is not possible.
With the break of the first game, when Bayern dominated the game, he told his men to stay calm and that they would score and win again. It happened. Pochettino told them on Tuesday that they would be able to handle the pressure in the second half after Bayern took the lead just before the break. And they have.
This PSG team won because they became a definition of spiritual and collective strengths, with special talents in the group.
Of course, they benefited from all the players missing Bayern (Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka), but the Parisians also had problems. They had Marco Verratti or Alessandro Florenzi for neither of the two matches, while Marquinhos only lasted 30 minutes in the first leg and is now out until the first semi-final. Paredes, who turned Pochettino into such an important part of the team, was suspended for the game last week.
Paris had problems, but they rose above them to make sure their Champions League adventure continues. Before this second inning, Joshua Kimmich – probably the best 6 in the world – said he was ‘convinced of Bayern, because they are the best team in the world’.
Let’s just say that this comment did not go unnoticed, especially by Neymar, who used it as extra motivation.
And when Daniele Orsato, who was the referee in the Champions League final that PSG lost to the Germans eight months ago, blew his whistle for the last time at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night, the Brazilian superstar with Paredes almost in Kimmich ‘s face celebrated – – a scenario Neymar said was fate.
“It’s funny, because I did not even celebrate to mess with him; it was more with Leo, and I ended up celebrating with him. It was fate that brought me close to [Kimmich], ‘Neymar said after the game.
There was revenge on Tuesday night, even though no payers really said so. The demons of the 2017 Remontada against Barcelona are now after the last 16 of this season. The ghosts of the 2020 final against Bayern are also now gone. Earlier this season, the team also sent the bad memories against Manchester United from 2019 by winning at Old Trafford.
It was a season of retaliation for the Champions League for Paris, and there is no stopping them now, even though Pochettino insists they are not the favorite to win it.