The man is a fervent and modest Catholic. So even after a heroic match, Kaylor Navas plays the figure of the humble fisherman indebted to ” God “ for having increased the number of saves (nine in all) against FC Barcelona in the knockout stages of the Champions League, this Wednesday, March 10. “I thank God tonight. It was a difficult game, we all wanted to play well and take advantage of the good performance of the first leg ”, communicated the goalkeeper of Paris-Saint-Germain with a broad smile at the microphone of RMC Sport.
Difficult, it is an understatement that poorly translates the final result (1-1). Attractive winner in the first leg (4-1) at Camp Nou, PSG almost woke up a dead man at the Parc des Princes as he was feverish, almost inconsistent and above all bad manager of his nest egg. Pathetic three weeks earlier, Barça was just prevented from playing the resuscitating Lazarus and screwing up the “remountada” of 2017 (0-4, 6-1) by an old acquaintance of the Spanish league: Keylor Navas.
In the first half, the former Real Madrid goalkeeper donned the Savior’s clothes, when in 2017, Kevin Trapp, sank in his cages like all his comrades. But Navas (arrived in Paris in the summer of 2019) is made of another wood. Triple winner of the Champions League with Real, the 34-year-old Costa Rican knows how to make the saves that change the fate of a team. At the start of the match, there were these duels won against an elusive Ousmane Dembélé but neglecting the finishes, then this hijacked penalty from Lionel Messi. The turning point of the match.
Fear in the belly
At 1-1, mass has not yet been said. Has an opening of the score of Kylian Mbappé on penalty already, and against the total course of the game at the 30e minute, Messi responded with a floating striking wonder tucked into Navas’ right skylight. But even with a margin of three goals before a possible extension, the Parisians advance with fear in the stomach. The ball burns the feet of midfielders, Mauro Icardi is a beacon off in the night, Julian Draxler makes the number while Mbappé overplay the heroes to become predictable.
So when the awkward Layvin Kurzawa saves Antoine Griezmann in the surface, there is still a scent of “remountada” – this concept of journalists who “Drunk” players inevitably in the present, dixit the defender Abdou Diallo after the victory against Brest in the Coupe de France last Saturday -, which resurfaces.
But Barça will not return to the locker room with a short advantage and long ideas. Blame it on Navas’ talent and his best ally of course. “Thank God I stayed focused and that allowed me to stop this penalty”, commented the one who has already been entitled to his biopic in his native country. Released in 2017, the film is titled Man of faith. “A title that sums up my life”, assured the player at his exit.
His team did not have faith in his qualities. Far from the fine words – relayed as much by the players as their coach, Mauricio Pochettino – on their desire to win this return match rather than manage it, Paris again gave the baton to be beaten. Incorrigible as against Barça in 2017 or Manchester United in 2019 (1-3), but not punished this time.
Pochettino and “negative influences”
From the locker room, at half-time, however, came the rumor of a not-so-cold anger from the philosopher Mauricio Pochettino. Asked by RMC Sport, the coach let him run (” Obviously, we were not happy with the first half but the players were the first not to be. »), But conceded that the contents remained on his stomach:
“I think that in the first half we played too much on the field, we weren’t thinking about the game but about qualifying. I told them. There were too many negative influences. You had to think about the game and forget about these influences. “
🗣💬 “We suffered a lot in the first half, we thought too much and gambergé. I have them to think about the game, not about… https://t.co/Y6Z8lXWM4L
But what does the Argentine mean by these influences? Those of a team which too sacred the meeting of February / March with the Champions League and does not put itself in the provisions to chain a first leg and return so substantial? The man is too careful in his communication to go further, target possible weaknesses, mental or technical in his workforce. So, he prefers to retain a second period, more united for lack of another quality. “It’s football, you also have to know how to suffer. The important thing is to believe in it, to remove all these negative thoughts ”, he pleads.
After all, his team just eliminated the 2e de Liga (undefeated for fifteen league games which is quite correct for a team in crisis) and achieved it without Neymar and an Angel Di Maria who only came in the last minutes on Wednesday. So with its two creators, the Mbappé from Camp Nou, a more inspired Verratti and his guardian angel from Costa Rica, PSG offers some guarantees. He still has to progress in the emotional management of big games, not to back down too much as soon as the opposition shows the muscles a little. But for that it may take more than a few prayers
