PARIS Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino has offered an insight into his side’s tactics in Tuesday night’s 1-0 win over Real Madrid in a UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg clash.
The French side outplayed the LaLiga leaders for most of the match but needed an added time goal from the impressive Kylian Mbappe to claim a fully deserved win in Paris.
Real Madrid adopted a conservative approach and hardly troubled the PSG defence, with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma hardly having to make a save.
Before Mbappe’s rescue act, PSG were presented with a golden opportunity to take the lead when the France forward was tripped in the Real Madrid box. Lionel Messi stepped up to take the penalty but it was saved by Thibaut Courtois.
Neymar, fit again after three months on the sidelines, then set up Mbappe with a clever back-heel from which the man of the match skipped past two defenders before placing the ball between Courtois’ legs.
“I am very happy. The team’s performance was very good,” Pochettino said during his post-match interview. “We were generally better than Real; we deserved the victory. There is still one game left [in the tie] but it is important to have taken this first step. It was a very good game.
“We cut off their passing circuits by pressing on their midfielders. We worked hard to stop them and recover the ball as high as possible, while controlling the game well for 90 minutes. We conceded very few chances.”
In the other Champions League clash of the night, Manchester City destroyed their hosts Sporting Club 5-0 in Lisbon to all but advance to the quarter-finals.
Bernardo Silva scored twice, while Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling added the other goals as City ran riot.
