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Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) beat Juventus 2-1 at the Parc des Princes in the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, September 6.
A double from Kylian Mbappe was enough to secure all three points for the Parisians. La Bianconeri pulled one back through Weston McKennie in the second half but it proved to be insufficient.
It took only five minutes for the Parisians to break the deadlock after Mbappe latched onto a brilliant lobbed pass from Neymar Jr. to fire home on the volley. In the 22nd minute, he doubled his team's advantage with another confident finish off Achraf Hakimi's pass from the right following a flowing a team move.
Juventus, who were limp and shambolic in the opening stanza, came back stronger after the break and halved the deficit in the 53rd minute. McKennie headed home from Filip Kostic's cross to give the Serie A giants a lifeline.
While the Italian side improved after scoring and created multiple good openings, they failed to take those chances thanks to some excellent defending by PSG. They ultimately couldn't get a second goal and started their European sojourn on a losing note.
Here are the hits and flops from an entertaining match:
Hit: Kylian Mbappe | PSG
Kylian Mbappe continued his devastating clinical streak in front of goal with a brace inside 22 minutes that was enough to seal all three points for PSG.
Mbappe came into the match against Juventus with seven goals in five games across all competitions. He recorded his eighth strike in six matches just five minutes after kick-off with a sublime finish into the far corner, volleying home from Neymar's lob over the top.
The 23-year-old then bagged his second goal 17 minutes later following an excellent passing move that found Achraf Hakimi in space on the right. The Moroccan wing-back laid it back for Mbappe, who fired the ball into the bottom corner past a helpless Mattia Perin in goal.
Combining electric pace with directness and efficiency, Mbappe was a thorn in La Bianconeri's side. The Frenchman deservedly took home the Player of the Match award for his heroics.
Flop: Dusan Vlahovic | Juventus
Since joining from Fiorentina in January, Dusan Vlahovic has been on a roll with Juventus, netting 13 goals in 24 games. This includes four strikes in Serie A from as many appearances this season.
At the Parc des Princes, however, the Serbian ace was a pale shadow of his rip-roaring self, mustering just one shot on target in 90 minutes of action. With just 23 touches, it's safe to say that he wasn't involved much in his side's build-up play as well.
Vlahovic also failed to capitalize on a few chances presented to him, such as the one midway through the second-half. Minutes after Weston McKennie pulled a goal back for the Old Lady, the Serb had the chance to make it 2-2. However, his downward header was palmed away by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Vlahovic didn't really get a sniff afterwards and was handled well by PSG's experienced defensive trio.
Hit: Neymar | PSG
Neymar Jr. has been in unstoppable form since the start of the 2022-23 season. The Brazilian had scored nine goals and laid out six assists in just seven matches across competitions coming into this game.
He continued his blistering run with another fabulous performance against Juventus, picking up an ingenious assist for Mbappe's first goal. After receiving a pass from the Frenchman, Neymar demonstrated his spectacular vision and technique.
He deftly lobbed the ball over the top of the Juventus defense into the box. Mbappe still had some work to do, but smashed home the opener with a clean volley to make it 1-0 to PSG.
Although the Brazilian couldn't get on the scoresheet himself, he remained the creative hub for his side. Everything good PSG did at the Parc des Princes stemmed from Neymar, who ran the show.
He registered a passing accuracy of 90%, made four key passes and won six ground duels, earning a WhoScored.com rating of 8.0. It was the second-highest for any player in the game, only behind Mbappe (8.3).
Flop: Leonardo Bonucci | Juventus
Before the match, Leonardo Bonucci assured Juventus fans that the team would put up a great show against PSG. However, they came up short in that regard and the captain had a disappointing night in Paris.
Bonucci was late to react to Mbappe's first goal and was caught flat-footed by Neymar's lob. The veteran centre-back struggled to cope with the pace of the PSG duo in the opening stanza and was all over the place. He also couldn't adequately command his backline, which afforded way too much space to the hosts.
However, with the game slackening off after the break, Bonucci looked more settled. The Italian didn't let PSG's attacking triumvirate score any more goals, although the damage was already done by then.
Hit: Marco Verratti | PSG
Marco Verratti was the underrated architect of PSG's victory against Juventus. He was the key to controlling the tempo of the high-voltage fixture and made some excellent passes throughout the game. These often helped them move forward, especially when the visitors put them under the cosh in the second half.
The Italian was typically industrious and showed his lazer-sharp vision by reading the Old Lady's movements well. His best moment of the match was arguably when he got into his own box and intercepted a pass from Filip Kostic.
Had Verratti missed that pass, it would've opened up an incredible goalscoring opportunity for the unmarked Vlahovic.
Overall, he completed 97% of his passes, won 11 ground duels and made six tackles. A little more clinicality could've resulted in a goal too as Verratti fired a decent chance high and wide in the 42nd minute. However, the Parisians won't mind as their midfield maestro ultimately helped them seal a massive victory.
