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A spirited Marseille threw heavyweight Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) out of the Coupe de France, picking up a 2-1 victory in their Round-of-16 clash on Wednesday night (8 February).
Marseille enjoyed an energetic start to the latest Le Classique, but the Parisians got their first stab at goal at the Stade Velodrome. Neymar brilliantly released left-back Nuno Mendes into space, and the Portuguese unhesitantly barged into the box and had a go at goal. However, Marseille goalkeeper Pau Lopez was on his toes and parried his effort successfully.
A couple of minutes later, PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was called into action, with Genghis Under testing the keeper with a curling effort. The Italian, fully stretched, made a fingertip stop to keep his team from going behind. Ten minutes later, Ruslan Malinovskyi evaded a couple of Parisian challenges before going for goal from the edge of the box. Donnarumma saw the shot late but managed to keep it out.
Marseille finally managed to put themselves ahead in the 31st minute, with Alexis Sanchez calmly putting away a penalty after Sergio Ramos shoved Under inside the Parisian box. PSG could have restored parity just nine minutes later, but the post came to Marseille’s rescue, keeping out Neymar’s effort.
Having been thoroughly outplayed in the first half, the Parisians restored parity out of the blue in injury time. Neymar delivered a peachy corner into the box, and Ramos made amends for his earlier mistake with a superb glancing header.
Instead of being demoralized by PSG’s goal at the end of the first half, Marseille came out swinging in the second 45. They pressed high, outran the traveling players, and made sure they did not have even a moment’s respite. Their efforts paid off in the 57th minute when Malinovskyi dispatched a stunning half-volley from Sanchez’s rebound.
PSG grew desperate for an equalizer in the final 30 minutes of the game, but it just was not meant to come. In the 79th minute, Neymar went past a couple of Marseille players to tee Lionel Messi up in the box. The Argentine fluffed his finish and saw it go wide of the far post.
In the 93rd minute, Messi found Ramos with an excellent cross into the Marseille box. Despite being unmarked, the Spaniard failed to beat the keeper, sending his header straight at him.
It was an uncharacteristically subdued display from Les Parisiens, who must now bounce back and prepare for the upcoming clashes against Monaco and then Bayern Munich. Here are five of their superstars who were way below their best in the disappointing Coupe de France defeat on Wednesday:
#5 Sergio Ramos
Sergio Ramos scored the only goal for PSG on Wednesday night. That moment of excellence aside, Ramos endured a poor game.
He brought down Under inside the area just before the half-hour mark to concede a penalty, was easily bypassed by pacy Marseille players and was rather weak in one-on-one duels. Ramos also failed to place his header when set up by Messi in injury time.
Over the course of the night, Ramos lost six of eight duels, was dribbled past thrice and made only one interception.
#4 Vitinha
Despite not being at his best lately, Vitinha got the opportunity to start in PSG’s midfield against Marseille. The Portugal international failed to match the game’s intensity and practically watched it pass him by. He did not create any goalscoring opportunities, struggled to string passes together, and never even attempted to venture forward.
Against Marseille, Vitinha lost possession 10 times, had no shots, committed a foul, completed only 20 passes, and lost four of eight ground duels. The central midfielder deservedly took off in the 63rd minute.
#3 Fabian Ruiz
After impressing in a couple of matches, Fabian Ruiz has seemingly lost his way. Following a drab display in last week’s 2-1 win over Toulouse, Ruiz fired another blank against Marseille. He did not pose a threat to Marseille’s goal, surrendered possession cheaply at times, and often looked clueless when on the ball.
The former Napoli midfielder neither played a key pass nor had a shot on Wednesday night. He lost two of four ground duels, ceded possession eight times, and was dribbled past once.
#2 Achraf Hakimi
Having scored once and set up another goal in PSG’s 2-1 win over Toulouse last weekend, Achraf Hakimi came into the game in good spirits. Unfortunately for the traveling fans, their high-flying right-back could not extend his purple patch. He struggled to cope with Marseille’s frantic pressing, lost possession frequently, and failed to deliver menacing balls into the box.
In the Coupe de France Round of 16, Hakimi lost possession 17 times, committed four fouls, lost nine duels, and did not record even a single shot.
#1 Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi was shockingly ineffective against PSG’s bitter rivals on Wednesday. The hosts marked him superbly and blocked his passing lanes, rendering him practically ineffective for the most part. Messi still could have made a telling impact in the end but ended up dragging his effort wide of the mark in the 79th minute.
The Barcelona legend lost possession a staggering 28 times against Marseille. He did not test the keeper even once, misplaced his only attempted long ball, and lost nine of 13 ground duels. It was a night to forget for the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.
