PSG tried hard on Tuesday, September 18 at home, but, like Ousmane Dembélé, the club was alternately uninspired and very clumsy in front of goal. It took a terrible mistake from the opposing goalkeeper at the very end of the game to win 1-0 and pocket three precious points in this first day of the Champions League. At the same time, Manchester City and Inter Milan neutralized each other and finished with a goalless draw.
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The game was a story of pressing and ball recovery for a while. It was after a ball was scraped high up the pitch that Warren Zaire Emery unleashed a shot from the edge of the opposition’s area, which was blocked and went close to the post under the gaze of the helpless opposing goalkeeper (11th). Two minutes later, the PSG-trained midfielder put Marco Asensio into orbit with a delicious backheel, but the Spaniard was no more successful in front of goal.
Paris dominated then. Except that once the pressure designed by Luis Enrique was broken by Girona, which has the second highest pass success rate in the Spanish Championship, Paris had more trouble. In parallel with their technical rise, the Catalans also toughened up their game and multiplied the fouls in midfield to break the rhythm and transform Parisian offensive desires into simple whims. This is evidenced by the two yellow cards received by Ladislav Krejci (20th) and Oriol Romeu (43rd).
A mistake from the goalkeeper to give away the victory
If the overall pace of the match lacked a bit of madness, allowing the Parisians to open the score before the 90th minute, it was not only the fault of a valiant opponent. The Parisian attacking elements lacked cutting edge in the last 30 meters, whether it was Bradley Barcola, Marco Asensio (replaced by Kolo Muani after an injury) or Ousmane Dembélé. The latter, however, played a few bad tricks on the Girona defense and even hit the crossbar (62nd) with a big left-footed strike.
But nothing will erase the huge opportunity wasted after the break: he had free rein to cross the opposition half, but hesitated too much and lost the ball after a defensive comeback that came out of nowhere. And that was the only chance he wasted.
The entries of Désiré Doué and Kang-in Lee brought speed and initiative, but no goals. And after a final quarter of an hour of trying everything, up to Hakimi’s point-blank volley five minutes from time, pushed back by Paulo Gazzaniga with a reflex save, the ball finally went in.
It was this same Gazzaniga who committed a huge handling error after a cross from Nuno Mendes and put the ball into his own goal. A godsend for PSG, who were happy to collect three points in this group stage before tackling the rest of their Champions League, which will put Arsenal, Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich on their path. A real disappointment for Girona, who held the first point in their history in the Champions League after a courageous match.
Manchester City and Inter neutralize each other
Manchester City’s reception of Inter Milan was somewhat of a caricature. The Citizens developed possession of the ball, trying to move the Inter defense from right to left, as they know so well how to do. But the Italians gave very little in this re-run of the 2023 Champions League final. If they conceded a few chances in the first 45 minutes, Erling Haaland was dangerous on several occasions in particular, the Milanese also played their chances bravely on the counterattack. If Marcus Thuram had been more technically accurate, he could have sent his team to the locker room at half-time with the advantage on the scoreboard.
The two teams ended up playing a goalless draw at half-time. With some major bad news for Manchester City: Kevin De Bruyne’s injury. Deprived of their Belgian playmaker, Pep Guardiola’s men did no better in the second half, and neither did Inter Milan, and the two teams ended the match with a goalless draw.
Dortmund beat Brugge
Unlucky finalist of 2024, Borussia Dortmund won (3-0) at the end of the match against a good team from Club Bruges, Wednesday, during the first day of the Champions League. The Germans, second in the Bundesliga, had to be patient in a full Jan Breydel stadium and against a confident Belgians, also second in their Championship.
Everything came together in the 76th minute when the substitute, the whirling Jamie Gittens, saw his shot blocked, and deceived the goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, to score the first goal of the match. The 20-year-old winger then did it again in the 86th minute, but this time without owing anything to anyone. After some nice legwork on the left side of the area, he came back on his right foot to shoot the Club Bruges goalkeeper. Borussia then benefited from a penalty (90+5th) easily scored by the former Rennes player Sehrou Guirassy.
All results
Bologna 0-0 Shakhtar Donetsk
Sparta Prague 3-0 Red Bull Salzburg
Celtic Glasgow 5-1 Slovan Bratislava
Club Brugge 0-3 Dortmund
Manchester City 0-0 Inter Milan
PSG 1-0 Girona
Also readChampions League: the first day’s matches with big shocks