Back to the Stade de France for PSG: the Parisian club, dispossessed of the League Cup last year, qualified for the final of the 2020 edition by defeating Reims (3-0) Wednesday January 22, thanks to its formidable effectiveness on set kicks.
The black beast was put down at the best time. Beaten twice by the Rémois in the last two confrontations, the Parisians have taken their revenge to find Lyon in the final on April 4.
Without all of his "Fantastic Four" to kick off, nor Edinson Cavani and Thiago Silva, package, it was Marquinhos who guided his partners by opening the scoring (9e) then by indirectly causing the goal of the break (31e). Released at the end of the match due to injury, the Brazilian defender gave way to Tanguy Kouassi, author of 3e goal (77e).
In an icy climate, the Parisians struggled to put in difficulty the best defense of Ligue 1 on a degraded lawn, where the poor support increased the technical faults. And this despite the tenure of the two stars Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, left on the bench in Lorient (1-0) Sunday in the Coupe de France.
Neymar-Mbappé more accomplice than ever
Convinced of being able to repeat the feat at the start of the season at the Parc des Princes (2-0), the Rémois, completely uninhibited like Moussa Doumbia, were behind the first heat stroke of the match. It lasted just over five minutes.
On a corner obtained by the doublet Neymar-Mbappé, more accomplice than ever in small spaces, PSG quickly opened the scoring. The center of "Ney" was perfectly "Smashée" head shot by Marquinhos, ruler in the air to deceive Predrag Rajkovic (1-0, 9e).
On the trajectory without touching the ball, Marquinhos pushed Ghislain Konan to fault, the Rémois defender slightly deflected the ball into his goals to deceive his goalkeeper (2-0, 31e).
Tactical flexibility worked
In the second half, the first event was the return to the grounds of Ander Herrera, long absent due to repeated injuries, in place of a Julian Draxler (46e), always as ghostly. The Basque, author of an involuntary hand in his area ten minutes later, almost offered a penalty to Rémois. An uncontrolled gesture ultimately without consequence.
His entry, however, allowed his coach to change the system, with the transition from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3. A way for Thomas Tuchel to work the tactical flexibility of his players in anticipation of the next matches, with the objective of moving to Dortmund on February 18 at the 8e of the first leg of the Champions League.
Tanguy Kouassi (17), the young talent from the training center whom Leonardo is pressing to sign his first professional contract in Paris, has finally registered the 4000e goal in the history of PSG, according to the accounts of the Parisian club (3-0, 77e).
