Hello everyone and welcome once again to this my little sports space, where soccer is lived with great passion and through my opinions, we break down and highlight all those important points for the development and conclusion of the different matches played in the different leagues of the world. In this opportunity we would dress up, one of the reasons would be to celebrate the day of love and friendship, each of us would share this day with that special person, showing our affection, love and appreciation in different ways, but... What do footballers do on such a special day like this? 🙄, well simple. Soccer fans would have to be very patient for 3 months to return to enjoy the great spectacles and especially the magical nights that the prestigious Champions League competition gives you.

As I mentioned in the short introduction, it would be a short wait for what would be a great reward. Yesterday, February 14, the first leg of the round of 16 would kick off with interesting clashes, among these and in my opinion one of the most striking in this billboard would be the PSG-Bayern Munich, this duel between the two clubs was the main dish, without discrediting the other round of 16 clash between Milan-Tottenham, the Parisian club was once again embarking on this adventure in search of conquering the coveted "Orejona", a title that despite the great names with which the French club counts has resisted even reaching the finals. On the other hand, the Bavarians already know what it is like to lift this great trophy, for no one is a secret that Bayern Munich is one of the most feared clubs in Europe and that beyond the modifications that their squad has undergone, they still have that footballing power.

The long-awaited whistle of the referee was finally blown to open the match between the teams mentioned above and as a remarkable fact there was the absence of the French striker Mbappe who was returning from an injury suffered in one of the last matches of the team in Ligue 1, I think it was one of the most influential casualties for the development of the match which I will be commenting later. For their part, the Germans also had cracks in their 11 on the field, Sadio Mané who in principle was expected to return against PSG, but apparently would not be recovered in time, the absence of the Senegalese was also significant, he offers a lot of imbalance in the offensive zone and in company he usually does a lot of damage.

The first minutes would be totally Bavarian, Galtier's team would come out very sluggish and timid against a Bayern that came in ready to solve it very early, in fact much of the first half would be played in the Parisians' half of the field suffering constant attacks, Especially on the left flank where one of the finishers of many of the plays would be Choupo-Mouting, the Cameroonian would be very active in various sectors of the opposing penalty area, complicating the Paris goalkeeper Donnarumma from outside the box as well as in the vicinity with some headers.

It would be a null first half for PSG where they would have no clear arrivals not to mention the shots on goal, Bayern would execute a good high pressure forcing the Parisian team to continue playing in their own field, even without opportunities for counter shots due to the lack of ball transfer to their most lethal weapons such as Neymar and Messi who always started their career far away from the area defended by Sommer, They lacked that explosive player with a fast run that would force the Bavarian team to defend more and therefore move back a little more, but for now they could not find answers and only opted to resist what was left of the first stage in order to rethink the game for the second stage.

After a first half dominated by Bayern, although not reflected in the scoreboard, Nagelsmann's team did not seem to want to let up, the second half of the match opened with more dangerous chances for the German team, So sooner or later a goal was bound to come sooner or later and in fact it did after a play built on the left flank with the presence of the aforementioned Choupo-Mouting and the newly entered Alphonso Davies who served a cross to Donnarumma's area falling at the feet of a solitary Kingsley Coman who solved in a great way with a direct touch to the goal at minute 53'. A well-deserved lead for Bayern, who had dominated the match throughout.

The DT Frances Galtier had to look for a solution as soon as possible before the match became more complicated and the advantage would become more difficult for the second leg of the round of 16, there was no other clearer alternative than to include Kylian Mbappe, the PSG 7 would see minutes again after leaving due to injury in the Ligue 1 match against Montpellier, the role that the fast striker would have to play would be the same as always, destabilize on the wings supported by passes filtered by Messi or Neymar.

With Mbappe on the field, the game did not seem to change at all, Bayern continued to arrive dangerously, some of these chances did not end in a goal at the very least, two of these from Choupo-Mouting where he crashed a shot into one of the goalposts.

I think the factor that would make the transition in the dominance of the match would be the changes made by Nagelsmann taking Kingsley Coman and Choupo-Mouting out, both were in my opinion key to the control of the match in the first half and part of the second, but it is true that when high pressure is applied it is usually demanding for players with a lot of mobility on the field like those just mentioned. It is here when Mbappe's presence would begin to have more effect, allowing PSG to take more of the ball and get closer to Summer's area.

Los últimos tramos del partido para el PSG se resumían en 3 situaciones:

The final stretches of the match for PSG could be summed up in 3 situations:

First a chance of danger for Mbappe who went alone thanks to his speed being one on one with Summer, resulting as winner the Swiss goalkeeper but leaving the ball alive, leaving opportunity for a close neymar who would make a couple of failed shots, ending the play in a shot on goal by Mbappe but invalidated as he returned offside.

2nd what would be a mirage of joy for the Parisian club, Neymar filtered an excellent pass on the left flank to Nuno Mendes who went quickly to the small area to meet Mbappe finishing the play in goal, but as I mentioned it would only be a false joy because the play would be reviewed by the Var to rule a millimetric advanced position of the Portuguese Mendes, This completely ruined the tie that would make things easier in the second leg, but nevertheless the hopes to keep trying did not fade because after being a spectator throughout the match, they took the lead in the last 20 minutes.

Finally the match would close with a 3rd most unfortunate situation for Bayern as in the last minutes Pavard would see the second yellow card being expelled from the match, this second caution would come from a hard tackle of the Frenchman to the Argentine star who was going alone in the race.

Thus ended one of the matches played in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League, this PSG-Bayern Munich match leaves a completely open series that can leave as a winner either of the two, it will be very interesting to see how the French team solves its weak start in Paris and with a more optimal return of Mbappe allows the comeback in the second leg in Bavarian territory. There is still a lot to see as the Champions League is back, there are many interesting matches where the forecast is reserved and I will do my best to be there and bring you from my perspective everything that happened in these matches, with this I say goodbye wishing you a happy week and looking forward to seeing you in a next opportunity!!!.

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