Bayern annuls Messi and Mbappé and advances in the Champions League – 03/08/2023 – Sport

Neither the best player in the world, nor the runner-up in the recent FIFA awards were able to prevent another early fall for Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League this Wednesday (8).

Messi and Mbappé tried hard, but their performances fell short of what PSG needed to beat Bayern Munich, in Germany, and advance to the quarterfinals.

Who, in fact, was decisive on the field was the German naturalized Cameroonian Choupo-Moting, who scored the goal that helped the Munich team to open the way to win by 2 to 0. Gnabry closed the account. In the first leg, the Germans also won, 1-0.

In both clashes, PSG could not count on the maximum strength of their attack. If in the first duel Mbappé returned from injury and only entered the field in the second half, when his team was already behind on the scoreboard, in Germany Neymar was absent.

This week, the Paris club announced that the number 10 will undergo surgery on his right ankle and will not be able to play again before the end of the European season. The initial prediction is that he will be away for three to four months.

Since 2017, when the French paid 222 million euros (R$ 1.22 billion in current values) for the Brazilian, he has already been out of four Champions League qualifiers due to injuries.

The most recent until this Wednesday was last season, when he missed the first leg against Real Madrid in the last 16 because of an injury to his left ankle.

Since arriving in European football, Neymar has been living with constant injuries. There have been at least 16 bruises adding to his passages through Barcelona and the Parisian team.

The recurrence of physical problems is more questioned in France since PSG made a high investment in the athlete with the main objective of winning the Champions League for the first time, a goal again frustrated.

The closest he came was in the 2019/2020 season, when he was a finalist, but ended up defeated by Bayern Munich himself.

Milan returns to the quarterfinals after 11 years of waiting

Away from home, the Italian team held a 0-0 draw with Tottenham and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. In the first leg, Milan won 1-0.

The last time the Italians, champions of Europe’s biggest club competitions seven times, got past the last 16 stage was in the 2011/2012 season.