PSG Stormed Back With Two Late Goals To Beat Atalanta In The Champions League

Paris Saint-Germain looked dead and buried in their Champions League quarterfinal tilt against Italian side Atalanta. Thanks to a silky finish in the 26th minute by Mario Pasalic and a bevy of missed chances by PSG star Neymar, it looked like PSG — which is synonymous for crashing and burning in European competition — was going to add yet another data point to the narrative that they cannot get it done at the continental level.

And then, all hell broke loose, and thanks to a pair of goals within minutes of one another, the Parisians came back from the dead to knock off Atalanta, 2-1, and advance to the club’s first Champions League semifinals in 25 years.

For supporters of the French giants, PSG kept getting infuriatingly close, but just could not beat Marco Sportiello in goal. Just on the verge of injury time, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting carried the ball from the left flank and into the midfield. He played in a ball that fell to the feet of Neymar, who looked set to go for goal but, perhaps accidentally, slid the ball across the face of goal. There, his center back and countryman Marquinhos, who tapped it in to draw Paris level.

The French side were roaring in the minutes leading up to the goal, but getting the first seemed to breathe a new life into them in their search for a second. They did not have to wait until any sort of extra time for that, though, as Neymar and Kylian Mbappe combined to see the Frenchman through. Mbappe saw Choupo-Moting darting towards goal, played in a pass, and in the blink of an eye, PSG had gone ahead.

Atalanta is perhaps Europe’s most aggressive side, and their inability to see through the match ended up being their downfall. They were one of the best stories in all of European football this year, so it is unfortunate that things ended so abruptly for them, but even though it took PSG quite some time to score, they were the better side for much of the night. As a result, they will move onto the semifinals, where they will face one of RB Leipzig or Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, Aug. 18.