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PSG struck twice late in the second half to break Atalanta hearts as they came from behind to take a 2-1 win in their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal against the competition debutants in Lisbon.
Goals from Marquinhos and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting helped PSG overturn Mario Pasalic's first-half opener for Atalanta. Pasalic scored with a superb left-footed curler after Duvan Zapata fluffed his effort on goal following PSG's failure to clear.
The French champions were then stung into action and began to take control of the game.
However, after Atalanta squandered an opportunity to double their lead in the second half, PSG had to wait until the 89th minute fo their equaliser. That came when Choupo-Moting played a lovely ball over the top to Kylian Mbappe who slided it back to Marquinhos whose shot took a selection off Mattia Caldara before going in.
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Choupo-Moting then sealed PSG's victory in the second minute of injury time. A sensational ball from Neymar set Mbappe through on the left. The Frenchman then squared the ball across the face of goal for the Cameroonian to tap into an empty net.
As Gian Piero Gasperini and his valiant Atalanta side bow out of the competition with their heads held high, let us take a look at the player ratings of both teams.
Atalanta Player Ratings
Marco Sportiello - 7/10
There was not much Sportiello could have done about either PSG goal, but he played his part in keeping Atalanta's lead alive till the penultimate minute of regulation time. He made a couple of smart saves when Mbappe faced up to him one-on-one and was generally assured with his presence in between the sticks.
Rafael Toloi - 7/10
Toloi was the most impressive of the Atalanta back three. He never backed down from facing up to Neymar and put in some impressive tackles.
Mattia Caldara - 4/10
Caldara had a poor game and was given a right working over by Neymar and Mbappe as his lack of pace was brutally exposed by the PSG attackers.
Berat Djimsiti - 5/10
As PSG mostly attacked down the left, Djimsiti wasn't overly worked defensively. He was a presence in the PSG box while attacking set-pieces. Djimsiti would feel that he should've put Atalanta 2-0 up when he had a wild swipe at a loose ball after a set piece.
Hans Hateboer - 5/10
By the time Mbappe came on and ran rings around him, Hateboer was a tired man who looked like his race was run. He switched off while defending the ball from Choupo-Moting to Mbappe that enabled the young Frenchman to set up PSG's equaliser.
Marten de Roon - 6/10
At the heart of the Atalanta midfield, De Roon was a warrior. That was epitomised in the Dutchman flying into tackles even after getting booked. He was the only Atalanta midfielder who came to grips with Neymar playing through the middle.
Remo Freuler - 5/10
Like De Roon, Freuler too was fearless in the tackle even after getting booked. But Atalanta would've liked some more composure from him when they had possession. However, with the brutal Serie A schedule Atalanta have come through since the restart, it is difficult to blame the players for looking jaded as the match wore on.
Robin Gosens - 5/10
Gosens' usual, adventurous self was missing in this game. He could've imposed himself on Kehrer as PSG did not really play anyone down the right wing.
Mario Pasalic - 7/10
It was a lovely finish from Pasalic to score Atalanta's only goal of the night, which put them ahead. However, he didn't see much of the ball in the best of areas after that as PSG imposed their control on possession.
Alejandro Gomez - 6/10
The Atalanta skipper didn't really have the most impressive game. It looked like Gomez's movement was hindered by some sort of injury. Even then, his crosses from set pieces were outstanding. He could've also had an assist had Navas not made an excellent save off a Hateboer header.
Duvan Zapata - 4/10
He didn't really hold up the ball well enough, nor did he make enough runs in behind the PSG defence. In the second half, Zapata looked tired and failed to get in line with the PSG defence who played him offside.
Atalanta Substitutes:
Ruslan Malinovskiy - 4/10
The Ukrainian didn't really get enough touches on the ball after coming on early in the second half as PSG barely ceded possession to the Italian side.
Jose Luis Palomino - 6/10
He made a sensational block to deny Mbappe for what looked like a certain goal. But like the rest of the Atalanta defence, he was caught out twice late in the game.
Luis Muriel - 5/10
The Colombian could have scored a late leveller for Atalanta to make it 2-2 but got himself in a tangle after being in a good position, eventually failing to get his shot away.
Timothy Castagne - N/A
The Belgian wing-back replaced Gosens late in the game.
Jacopo Da Riva - N/A
The youngster replaced Zapata late in the game, but like Castagne, barely had a touch of the ball.
PSG Player Ratings
Keylor Navas - 7/10
When Atalanta were dominating proceedings early on, Navas kept PSG in the game with a couple of superb saves to keep out Hateboer and Djimsiti. He suffered an injury, which he would hope isn't too serious, as the French champions look forward to their first Champions League semifinal since 1995.
Thilo Kehrer - 6/10
It was a largely quiet evening for Kehrer down the PSG right as he barely provided them with any thrust moving forward on that flank.
Thiago Silva - 5/10
Some of PSG's defending against set pieces was questionable, and as the leader of the defence, Silva must take some blame for that. He still has at least one more game left in his PSG career, though.
Presnel Kimpembe - 7/10
The Frenchman was strong against Zapata and didn't allow the Colombian the space or time to turn and run at the PSG defence.
Juan Bernat - 6/10
Like Kehrer on the other flank, Bernat didn't really provide any thrust in an attacking sense down the left. He did defend largely well against Hateboer on the wing, though.
Marquinhos - 8/10
The Brazilian brought PSG back into the game by being at the right place at the right time to tap home the equaliser. During the rest of the game, he largely neutralised the threat posed by Atalanta skipper Papu Gomez.
Idrissa Gueye - 7/10
Gueye was superb in breaking up Atalanta attacks and setting PSG on their way. His distribution to Neymar, especially, was superb as the Senegalese seemed to have the knack of finding PSG's talismanic superstar in areas where the latter had space to run at Atalanta.
Ander Herrera - 4/10
The Spaniard was largely anonymous and a non-entity in the game before he was replaced by Leandro Paredes.
Pablo Sarabia - 4/10
He was the first PSG player to be substituted, with Mbappe replacing him. He had no impact on the game, whatsoever, despite having the outstanding Neymar by his side.
Neymar - 9/10
He was the outstanding player on the pitch for the entire duration of ninety minutes. The Brazilian was supreme, and at most times, untouchable. He could, and maybe should, have had a hat-trick in the first half but his shooting boots deserted him.
Mauro Icardi - 6/10
There were a couple of outstanding pieces of play when the Argentine linked up with Neymar, but nothing came off them. He barely had a chance in front of goal either.
PSG Substitutes
Kylian Mbappe - 8/10
With all indications before the game pointing to him not being fully fit, Mbappe threw all the doubts out of the window with a game-changing performance. Atalanta were terrified of his pace as they dropped back a yard, but the Frenchman still ran at them and beat them.
Julian Draxler - 5/10
His only noteworthy contribution was taking a shot from 30 yards out when Neymar and Mbappe were making runs to his left. The shot went high and wide, though.
Leandro Paredes - 5/10
He didn't really have much to do when he came on as PSG had pretty much resorted to hitting Neymar and Mbappe at every opportunity and having them run at the Atalanta defence.
Sergio Rico - 5/10
He had a couple of touches on the ball after replacing Navas but did not have a save to make.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting - 8/10
He'll take the plaudits tonight. He set up the assist for the PSG equaliser and was in the right place at the right time to tap home the winner against Atalanta.
From relegation with Stoke City in 2018 to a Champions League semifinal in 2020 - not bad, eh?
