After defeating Aston Villa 5–4 in both legs, Paris Saint-Germain advanced to the Champions League semi-finals this season. However, the reason Ousmane Dembele was not named Player of the Match has been made public.
After rallying from behind to win the first leg 3-1 in the French capital, Luis Enrique’s Ligue 1 team went into the second leg of their match against the best table in Europe as overwhelming favourites to advance. However, they discovered that it was anything but a simple night at work.
Aston Villa
Related: Player Evaluations and Match Highlights for Aston Villa 3-2 Paris Saint-Germain
The Champions League exit for Unai Emery’s team wasn’t without a battle.
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Youri Tielemans, John McGinn, and Ezri Konsa were all present to give the hosts a chance to advance to the semi-finals after PSG dominated the second leg and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in just 27 minutes. It was not going to be.
UEFA officials gave the 27-year-old Player of the Match title for his contribution to Mendes’ goal after he scooped up the ball on the right side, calmly waited for the ideal option, and then picked out the roving left-back.
Dembele posed with his gong, his expression like thunder, as seen below in the traditional pitch-side photos. In fact, new video shows Dembele storming down the Villa Park tunnel after flatly refusing to take the medal home.
When he was seen holding the prize, his expression was blank, and he turned down the opportunity to take it home with him. This sparked questions, and he has since implied why he didn’t accept the Player of the Match honour.
Even though PSG won the two legs, Dembele was annoyed by the way PSG won in the Second City. The Frenchman, who is considered to be among the best wingers in the world of football, said to Canal+ about his team’s lacklustre performance after the match.
We believed that we were too good. We believed that we were already qualified at 2-1 and that the match was done. The Champions League operates in this manner. You play against teams whose fans are as sexy as that, and they have the power to completely change the outcome of the match.
“This match will serve us well for the future,” the Rennes academy graduate went on to say, adding that “we will have to be more demanding in the semi-finals.” We are pleased to have qualified. We’ll resume our job.
PSG, who are considered to be among the biggest clubs to never win the Champions League, advanced to the semi-final and will now play either Real Madrid or Arsenal in the next round in hopes of making it to the final in Munich, Germany.
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