8. Keylor Navas
The reason PSG had a chance to pull the match through, even if it was at the very end of it, is their keeper Keylor Navas. He made some superb saves during his 79 minutes of playtime. He was replaced by Sergio Rico for an injury.
9. Atalanta fought until the end
Atalanta fought till the final minute. It was Luis Muriel who only had Sergio Rico to beat inside the box. But the Colombian took too much time with the ball, and PSG defenders quickly closed in.
Throughout, they did not allow PSG to rule. Though PSG had 60 per cent of ball-possession, they could only take ‘one-shot-within-target’ during the first 60 minutes of the match. But Atalanta had four attempts which were on target, and Navas had to have a busy day.
Atalanta also had six yellow cards, against PSG’s three. This is the testimony of how competitive the match was.
10. The madness of 3 Minutes
Finally, everything boils down to the final few minutes. Atalanta leading 1-0 at the final minute of regular time and had five minutes of injury time to resist the PSG attack and secure their first Champions League semifinal.
Then it all happened. First Neymar-Marquinhos brought level, and then Neymar-Mbappe-Choupo-Moting scored the decider. The fate of the match were all very different from 89th minute to after 93rd minute of the match.
11. Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting came at 79th minute of the match and had not missed to provide the decisive touch, sliding through between the defenders, when a Neymar-Mbappe move was seeking the final answer from him. It was one action which decided the fate of two European giants.
