Man Utd 0-2 PSG: Paul Pogba loses his head while Kylian Mbappe leaves Solskajer in search of a miracle

In eight weeks, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made everybody dream in Manchester United. But it took less than eight minutes for Paris Saint-Germain in the second half at Old Trafford on Tuesday to let the Norwegian hope for a miracle when he was to lead United in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

The 10 wins of Solskjaer and his draw in his first 11 games after succeeding Jose Mourinho, as well as injuries to the stars of the PSG, Neymar and Edinson. Cavani, had made United the favorite here in so many ways.

However, Angel Di Maria and Kylian Mbappe conspired to upset the forms notebook and bring Solskjaer and United back to the fall. The two badists of Argentina in the blink of an eye and the arrival of the French clinician on time, where the killer's shots were killed, could never be overcome by the local team. Paul Pogba's late red card for a ridiculous challenge against Dani Alves has only made the mountain more difficult to climb.

United had once again opted for a pressure game plan that exploited the space on the break, and it had moderately positive results in the first half without seeming to really demolish PSG. . In the first 45 minutes they simply did not take advantage of the good positions they found themselves in.

In addition to shooting close to Pogba after a fine broke the right they seemed to make all the wrong decisions when it mattered. Jesse Lingard pbaded a pbad behind Anthony Martial as they broke with two against two, while Marcus Rashford controlled his stride at the crucial moment, while he was destined to receive a Luke Shaw Cup.

On the other end they benefited from the fact that the PSG were all too often, leaving Mbappe to fend for himself, hoping to get some magic from the World Cup winner rather than putting numbers around him to keep United on his guard.

Although the losses suffered by Martial and Lingard as a result of an injury forced him to rethink, there should not have been a drop in performance that followed when PSG began to turn the screw. With Alexis Sanchez too indented and Juan Mata unable to add the right side, United seemed to have no outlet and the champions of France knew how to make the most of their chance to take a superiority.

After Mbappe tested David de Gea for the first time, Di Maria swayed a deadly center from the corner flag that allowed Presnel Kimpembe to get in front of Nemanja Matic, the right half-foot, to get home.

And less than eight minutes later, it was twice as bad for United. Di Maria broke free on the left and delivered a flawless ball to Mbappe, who was able to get home after Eric Bailly failed to reach Argentina's pbad.

Everyone was waiting for a wake-up call sooner or later, but this one happened on the biggest stage. It could have been even worse without the presence of a powerful De Gea hand, while Mbappe was clearing his way past United's back line.

Unsurprisingly, Pogba saw the red after being connected to Dani Alves' knee with a late tall size challenge. He had a frustrating night against Marquinhos and his absence from the second leg will hardly help.

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A black mark against his name will not be the end of Solskjaer as a candidate for the permanent position at Old Trafford, but ultimately, this result is due to United's inability to adapt to the new realities once that Plan A did not work and that its staff was destroyed. forced to change.

Of course, there is still a second leg to go, but it will take a lot of character to get out of this hole in Paris on March 6th.

No team has ever managed to progress after a 2-0 home defeat in the first leg of a knockout phase, which means that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer really needs to produce a miracle.