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PSG put in a dismal performance and were deservedly knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich after losing 3-0 on aggregate.
There is enough blame to go around for PSG’s defeat to Bayern, but there will be several fans calling for the dismissal of head coach Christophe Galtier.
Certain players will have to face the music as well for below-par performances when it mattered most.
As for Bayern, they march on into the quarter-finals and have their eyes on the big prize.
The Winners
Thomas Tuchel
Thomas Tuchel joined Paris Saint-Germain at the start of the 2018-19 season, winning back-to-back league titles as well as the French cup.
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He was sacked in December 2020, less than five months after guiding the Parisians to a Champions League final where they lost narrowly to Bayern Munich.
After his dismissal, he went on to lead Chelsea to Champions League glory and PSG have struggled in Europe ever since.
Dayot Upamecano
Upamecano was outstanding from start to finish and never gave Kylian Mbappe a sniff. He has been a rock at the heart of the Bayern defence throughout this Champions League run and indeed since he arrived from RB Leipzig in 2021.
He also made a game-saving challenge to deny Lionel Messi and help send Bayern to the quarterfinals.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
Choupo-Moting has been exceptional since becoming a fixture in this Bayern side. He is not one of the more heralded names but he is as reliable as they come.
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He had a goal chalked off and should have had a penalty but he persisted and it paid off as he opened the scoring for the hosts and was a solid threat all night.
The Losers
Neymar
As good as Neymar is, and he is an exceptionally gifted footballer, there will always be question marks regarding his decision to move to Paris. Safe to say, it has not worked out as planned.
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Six years on and there’s still no Champions League glory or the coveted Ballon d’Or for Neymar. Last summer there were strong reports that the PSG hierarchy wanted him out of the club but it was almost impossible to find a buyer or anyone willing to pay his very high wages.
Despite starting the season on fire contributing goals and assists in basically every game, the exit rumours persisted.
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Before this game, he was ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury. Hardly his fault, but this was just another page in the big book of a PSG career littered with disappointment.
Christophe Galtier
Surely it’s hard to see Galtier staying on as PSG manager beyond the season. He started the season brightly with a well-structured 3-5-2 formation but lost his way a bit trying to shoehorn as many midfielders into the starting lineup as possible.
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He struggled to make any real impact in Europe and was clearly out coached by a superior Julian Nagelsmann in the Bayern dugout. It is very possible that Galtier has coached his last Champions League game for PSG.
Lionel Messi
It is now 8 years since Messi lifted the Champions League trophy. His move to PSG was supposed to be a catalyst, teaming up with Neymar and Mbappe but it has been a disappointing two years in the French capital.
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