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Steve McManaman slams PSG with three key reasons for latest collapse
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN exited the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
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Steve McManaman has slammed Paris Saint-Germain after they blew a two-goal aggregate advantage over Real Madrid and went crashing out of the Champions League on Wednesday night. And the former Liverpool star has blamed the team’s latest collapse on three reasons.
PSG battled to a 1-0 victory over Real at Parc des Princes three weeks ago as Kylian Mbappe struck in the fourth minute of stoppage time at the end of the match.
And Mbappe opened the scoring in the return leg at the Bernabeu Stadium when he found the back of the net six minutes before half time.
The French side appeared to be coasting into the quarter-finals, with the hosts unable to find a breakthrough with half an hour of the showdown remaining.
But Real eventually reduced their deficit after away goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma dawdled in possession.
Karim Benzema took full advantage of the Italian’s mistake and thrashed the ball into the back of the net as the hosts were given hope.
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Benzema then levelled the tie with less than 15 minutes remaining after two sublime passes from Luka Modric.
And PSG went into full panic mode as they conceded the decisive goal just seconds after restarting the match following Benzema’s second.
Benzema was on hand yet again with the finish as the away defence flapped - and the France international capped a memorable night for the Spanish giants in Europe.
McManaman was scathing in his assessment of Mauricio Pochettino’s side after the contest had come to an end as he claimed the players were too powerful, they can’t get told off and they do not care.
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“The players are too powerful,” McManaman told BT Sport after the match. “They were too powerful under Thomas Tuchel, too powerful under Unai Emery, too powerful under this man.
“They can’t get told off and when the going gets tough, they do not care.
“And the trigger point was Donnarumma. Yes, it was a bad mistake.
“But that should have been the point where the team then say, ‘right, the crowd has switched, the attitude in the stadium has switched. We need to dig in, we need to defend deep and we need to just stay in the game until we quieten the crowd down again.’
“And they don’t. They just play wherever they want to play. The top three up front are amazing footballers but they don’t work hard.
“It was a brilliant evening for Karim Benzema and particularly Real Madrid.
“We expected PSG to unravel. They did what they always do when they come under pressure - they melt away. There was no organisation and no leadership. Another historic night for Real.”