The disaster scenario therefore took place this Thursday evening on the lawn of the PSG campus. Already beaten 3-1 in the first leg of the Champions League play-offs, the Parisiennes once again missed out on their return match against Juventus Turin (1-2) and are already saying goodbye to the European Cup. Europe. This is the first absence of the women’s section from the main phase of the Champions League since 2017-2018. The Parisian club had four appearances in the semi-finals over the last five seasons…
The worst thing is that the suspense didn’t last long. Fabrice Abriel’s team knew it: they had to wrap up this match and show Europe its supposed status. But despite the return of the sun after a rainy day, Paris looked very gray. From the second minute of play, Juve, led by French internationals Pauline Peyraud-Magnin and Estelle Cascarino, opened the scoring from a corner. At the heart of a passive defense, Sofia Cantore deceived Mary Earps by taking advantage of a poorly cleared ball (2nd).
The task was then already almost impossible: score at least three goals without conceding others to snatch extra time. And there is an immutable rule in football. To equalize, you have to create chances. After half an hour of play, Paris was far from the mark: one shot (off target) against seven for Juve. The animation remained poor for a long time until this change of system (with the entry of the fast Nigerian Echegeni, summer recruit) in the 36th minute. Finally, a few occasions to note (Katoto, Dudek).
Only one goal from penalty
A pace continued in the second period, with two new changes including the entry of attacker Romée Leuchter, another recruit. The Dutchwoman restarted the match by equalizing on a penalty (54th) after a foul caused by Marie-Antoinette Katoto. The start of a crazy sequence as the Turinese found the post in the wake of a long-range shot. And it was ultimately the Italians who scored the second goal, that of qualification, thanks to a header at the near post from a corner by Barbara Bonansea (72nd).
The Parisiennes were not unworthy but their reaction was too late and too timid. “Not qualifying will have consequences on the season,” Sakina Karchaoui said yesterday. The main thing will therefore be to watch the Champions League on television. Not worthy of a club like PSG. Only OL will represent France on the Old Continent this season.
