Champions League: Manchester United Delivers Spirited Masterclass To Defeat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1

It was not precisely how Paris Saint-Germain and Thomas Tuchel had planned it. They couldn’t argue either, not with the early spot kick and not with the final score. Abdou Diallo’s fault on Anthony Martial inside the box was a stonewall penalty. Manchester United’s new midfield metronome Bruno Fernandes stepped up with his little skip and jump, but connected poorly with the ball. The spot kick was saved, but VAR handed Fernandes a reprieve. The goalkeeper had moved too soon. This time Fernandes did convert the penalty, not without a skip and a hop, tricking goalkeeper Keylor Navas with his feigned hesitation.

And so, 23 minutes into the new Champions League season PSG were behind. PSG’s reaction? Little to none. The host was deflated. The players grimaced and when they did accelerate the Parisians were flagged offside. Kylian Mbappe zipped down the left but not past Alex Tuanzebe. At the other end, Marcus Rashford rushed down the inside-left channel at a frightening speed. The English speedster however didn’t faze Diallo. 

All the frantic speed was the best a low-energy PSG mustered in the first half. The French were outworked and outplayed by a spirited and solid Manchester United. Fernandes came close to a second goal before the break. Up the Zebras then after 45 minutes! Manchester United’s shirt was outlandish and perhaps not to everyone’s taste, but Tuchel needed some trenchant half-time analysis to prompt a reaction from his lukewarm team.

Of course, this was simply a group stage match. There was no need to dramatize just yet. The Champions League stratifies European club soccer. A wealthy elite tends to dominate the competition in the knockout rounds, and further plans are afoot to consolidate inequality forever. In other words, PSG shouldn’t fear a first-round elimination, unless Leipzig upset the French. The German team however, isn’t a plucky underdog either, but a franchise of an energy drink behemoth.

The game ignited in the second half, with flying tackles, accelerations in behind and a much-needed reaction from the host. Mbappe tested David De Gea before PSG leveled through an absurd own goal, Anthony Martial planting a header past his own goalkeeper. All of a sudden, United, having lost their shape, needed to hang on. PSG played with zip and zest, with the confidence of a team that nearly conquered Europe, and a forward trident that is its ultimate, if somewhat, disjointed weapon. Tuchel is still tinkering with a balance to accommodate both Neymar and Mbappe, but as ever, PSG didn’t seem more than the sum of their parts. The Parisian equation still is 3 plus the rest. You can’t win the European Cup that way. Munich dominated the final eight in August precisely because they valued the system. 

And PSG was given another demonstration of how teams can flourish through hard work and sticking to a plan, how the sum of a team must be larger than it parts. Manchester United has been the last club to win at the Parc des Princes in the Champions League and on Tuesday the English club and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer engineered another fine victory through Rashford’s winner in the 87th minute. Substitute Paul Pogba fed the number 10, who spun around Sarabia and delivered a cool low finish to inflict defeat on Paris. 

It was a repeat from March 2019 when Rashford also proved to be a match winner. That night, Solskjaer cemented his position as head coach riding an emotional wave as the Norwegian conjured the spirit of ’99. Tuesday’s win was less dramatic, but no less valuable for a Manchester United side that has been going turbulent times. Solskjaer and United taught PSG what should be crystal clear to anyone in an associative sport: the collective prevails.