JAKARTA - Marco Veratti emphasized that Paris Saint-Germain continued to maintain their confidence in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Manchester City until finally the red card received by Angel Di Maria destroyed it all.
Like in the first leg, PSG was forced to complete the second leg with only 10 players after Di Maria received a red card in the 69th minute at Etihad, Manchester, England, Tuesday local time (Wednesday WIB).
Di Maria was involved in a minor argument with Fernandinho while trying to take the ball-in and the Argentine winger was then seen deliberately stepping on the City captain's feet, to which referee Bjorn Kuipers responded firmly with a red card.
The red card was received just six minutes after Riyad Mahrez scored his second goal and doubled City's lead 2-0, and like at the Parc des Princes a week ago, The Citizens could easily keep the score in an 11-on-10 situation until the whistle sounded.
"We continue to have faith until the red card happens", said Verratti after the match as reported by Antara from the official UEFA website.
"We played much better than them, but then conceded from the opponent's first chance, just like in the first leg. But that's what happens when you face big teams", he added.
Verratti's comments are relatively different from what happened on the pitch, where the City managed to keep out a lot of PSG's attacks even though the visitor had 55 percent possession throughout the game.
Unfortunately, from this dominance, none of PSG's 14 attempted shots met the target and their best chance was "only" Marquinhos' header which still hit the crossbar.
On the other hand, City was able to take advantage of their patient play to reap two goals from their clinical counter-attacks and the PSG goal was ripped off twice by Riyad Mahrez.
Verratti acknowledged that City deserved to reach the final while arguing that the two teams were distinguished by the duration of the tactics' coaching in each camp.
"City deserves this too because they've worked with the same coach for six or seven years and this will be their first final in this competition", said Verratti.
Fin du match. 🔚
Les Parisiens quittent la @ChampionsLeague, éliminés après ces demi-finales. #UCL | #MCIPSG pic.twitter.com/kWNXVP2H2a
- Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) May 4, 2021
"But we have to praise our campaign in this competition too because in two years we reached the final and semifinals. We have to continue, especially since our coach has only served for five months in this team", he concluded.
Mauricio Pochettino has only managed PSG since the beginning of this year, replacing Thomas Tuchel, who last season was able to bring Le Parisiens to the Champions League final and wiped out the titles of three French domestic competitions.
This semifinal result is also a minor revenge event for Pep Guardiola's City, who was knocked out by Pochettino's Tottenham Hotspur in a similar round two years ago.
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