How do you try and capture everything that happened in Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw thriller between PSG and City at the Parc des Princes?
We had a a go here in our match report - but with so much going during a fabulously frenetic 90 minutes it is worth taking a scout around the press reaction to pick up the various angles.
The general consensus ahead of the second leg seems to be ‘anything could happen’ but there is plenty of praise for a City side that looked dangerous throughout and earned two precious away goals.
The Daily Mail’s Martin Samuel reflected: “Manchester City were not fancied to get anything from this match and have instead achieved a result that has seen the home team progress on more than 79 per cent of occasions in the second leg. They have every chance of making the last four from here.”
He added: “For now, the breakthrough season in Europe is still on. City should at least fancy their chances with even a low-scoring draw enough to put them into the last four. The quarter-finals are already virgin territory for this group and few fancied City for more, with so many influential players absent.
“Instead they performed creditably, Pellegrini’s gamble in bringing Joe Hart back from injury rewarded with a penalty save from Zlatan Ibrahimovic after 13 minutes. Indeed, on chances, PSG probably shaded it. That doesn’t mean this wasn’t a good display by City, though. When they went ahead after 38 minutes it was payback for some good early work.”
Manchester Evening News reporter Stuart Brennan reckoned the result was more evidence that City have produced their best moments in the Champions League this season.
“The Blues were tagged as total outsiders, not least by the Parisian press, who made their local team big favourites,” he wrote.
“And there were even few who made the trip across the Channel who thought the inconsistent Blues had much chance of pulling off a big result, either.
“The pavement cafes and bistros of the French capital were full of blue-shirted fans discussing the merits of a one-goal defeat to take back to the Etihad Stadium next week.
“But from the moment Sergio Aguero chased a ball over the top and panicked David Luiz into a yellow card offence with seconds on the clock, it looked like the reality was very different.
“This season City have been a more mature outfit in Europe than they have in the Premier League, and they showed it again, introducing a bit of bright Mancunian football culture to the City of Light.”
It was a night of ‘glorious chaos’ according to the Daily Telegraph’s Jason Burt.
“Zut alors!” he declared in his report. “In the Parc des Princes the paupers were the defenders. This was a gloriously chaotic Champions League quarter-final in which, improbably but courageously, it is City who take the advantage into next week’s second leg.
“Their supporters know it. They sang long and hard into the Parisien night and will dream that having reached the last eight of this competition for the first time a semi-final now beckons.
“Nine of the past 11 away teams to achieve this scoreline have gone through but there is little certainty that City can make it 10. Not if they play like this and not against a PSG side who will be stung by the fact that they drew a match they would have won comfortably had they taken their chances.”
Kevin De Bruyne again caught the eye of the watching scribes, with the Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg picking up on the Belgian’s performance in his analysis piece.
He wrote: “De Bruyne was used in the No10 role behind Agüero and he was prominently involved in most of City’s best moments in attack, passing intelligently, dropping into space between the lines and opening the scoring with a wicked shot shortly before the interval.”
The Daily Mirror’s Liam Corless praised goalkeeper Joe Hart, who saved a penalty from Zlatan Ibrahimovic just two-and-a-half weeks after being stretchered off against United.
“England’s No 1 only missed one game with the calf injury he suffered in the Manchester derby so there wasn’t much time for him to be missed, but seeing his name on the team sheet will have given City fans a small boost in confidence before the match,” he wrote.
“He was called into action 12 minutes in to deny Ibrahimovic from the penalty spot with a dive to his right and that probably played on the Swede’s mind when he burst clear into a one-on-one with Hart around 10 minutes later and blazed over.
“He was blameless for PSG’s theatrical first goal and was powerless to stop the second, scored by Adrien Rabiot, after palming away Edinson Cavani’s initial header.”
That’s it for today, but expect plenty more paper talk in the build up to next Tuesday’s return leg!
