Manchester City 2-0 PSG (4-1 aggregate) as Riyad Mahrez double leads Pep Guardiola’s men to first ever Champions League finals
Manchester City have qualified to their first ever Uefa Champions League final after passing one last test against a wounded Paris Saint-Germain side at the Ittihad Stadium.
PSG dominated the first leg of this semi-final tie in Paris, with Neymar bamboozling Pep Guardiola’s defence and Marquinhos’ header leaving the hosts 1-0 up at half-time.
Despite that advantage, Mauricio Pochettino’s side crumbled after the interval with Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez completing a memorable comeback with a 2-1 victory in the French capital.
While City boasted two valuable away goals heading into the second leg in Manchester, a team containing the likes of Neymar, Angel De Maria and Kylian Mbappe will never truly be out of a tie until the final whistle is blown – though Mbappe is an injury doubt.
However, Riyad Mahrez scored twice to complete Manchester City’s journey to a first Champions League final with a 2-0 victory, eliminating Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 on aggregate on Tuesday.
After beginning Man City’s fightback in Paris last week, Mahrez took only 11 minutes to score in the semi-final second leg when he put the ball through the legs of goalkeeper Keylor Navas on a field covered in the remnants of a spring hailstorm.
The Paris-born forward completed a counterattack in the 63rd minute that began with a surging run with Phil Foden and combination with Kevin De Bruyne.
PSG then lost their cool and composure, finishing the game with 10 men just like in the first leg after Angel Di Maria was sent off with 20 minutes to go for kicking at Fernandinho.
PSG missed out on a second shot at lifting a first European Cup after losing last season’s final to Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile, City could contest an all-English final if Chelsea overcome Real Madrid on Wednesday.
