Kylian Mbappe cannot save Paris Saint-Germain in Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich
- Not even Mbappe‘s substitute appearance can end PSG’s slump, as they lose at home to Bayern in first leg of round-of-16 clash
- Early goal enough for troubled AC Milan to edge Tottenham in first Champions League knockout match in nearly 10 years
Not even Kylian Mbappe’s substitute appearance could end Paris Saint-Germain’s slump, as they lost 1-0 at home to Bayern Munich on Tuesday in the first leg of their round-of-16 Champions League clash.
A third straight loss made it five defeats in 11 games this year for PSG coach Christophe Galtier’s team.
Bayern winger Kingsley Coman volleyed home inside the penalty area from Alphonso Davies’ left-wing cross in the 53rd minute.
The Paris-raised Coman, whom PSG sold to Juventus when he was 18, held his hands up to show he was not celebrating scoring against his former club – again.
“It’s the city where I was born and raised so it was difficult to celebrate here,” Coman said. “Given our performance we could have done more, but at the end it was a bit difficult so we’re satisfied with the win.”
When Bayern won the last of their six Champions League titles in 2020, they beat PSG 1-0 with Coman heading home the winner.
The World Cup superstar Mbappe made an unexpectedly quick recovery from injury and had two would-be goals disallowed for offside after coming on in the second half.
“It was difficult, unpredictable. I wasn’t supposed to play but I wanted to play and help my mates. We did everything, we worked night and day to get me some game time,” Mbappe said. “I wanted to [start the game]. But sometimes you have to be satisfied with what you can do, and that’s all I could do.”
The return leg is on March 8.
PSG were eliminated by Real Madrid in the last 16 last season and may need Mbappe at his best to avoid another early exit.
“When we have our players ready and we can play our attacking game, they [Bayern] are not comfortable,” Mbappe said. “We have to retain how we finished the game. We saw that we can cause them problems.”
An early goal was enough for troubled AC Milan to edge Tottenham 1-0 on Tuesday in their first Champions League knockout match in nearly 10 years.
Brahim Díaz netted in the seventh minute to give Milan a slender advantage to take to London when the teams meet again in the second leg of the round of 16 on March 8.
But the Rossoneri could be left counting the cost of two late missed opportunities that their coach thought were going to end up in the back of the net.
“The two chances for Charles [De Ketelaere] and Malick [Thiaw] were important, I was already celebrating on the bench,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said. “Two-nil would have been a better result clearly because we are sure that the return match will be as close, as difficult.
“But I can’t be anything but happy with the team’s performance today.”
It was a miserable return to San Siro for Tottenham manager Antonio Conte, who endured only his second loss against Milan in 15 matches as coach. The former Inter Milan and Juventus coach had engineered 10 victories over the Rossoneri.
“I’m not disappointed with the performance,” Conte said. “Some of the players need to find their belief again. But there was a lot of commitment and desire from them all. My job is to show the players that I have a lot of belief in them.”
It was also Tottenham’s second straight defeat since Conte returned to the dugout following gallbladder surgery. Spurs lost 4-1 at Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday.
For Milan, it is a further sign that things might be turning around after a tough run. Milan were winless in their past seven matches, including losing their previous four matches, before Friday’s 1-0 win over Torino.
That run had seen the defending Serie A champions fall 18 points behind league leaders Napoli, get knocked out of the Italian Cup and lose the Italian Super Cup to bitter rivals Inter.
