Foreign footballA painful evening for Paris Saint-Germain and Naples. Mauricio Pochettino’s men saw the French League title go to Lille for the fourth time tonight, while Gennaro Gazzo’s men in Italy missed a Champions League ticket.
In France, the national title was decided only tonight. And the underdog took it out of the billions. With leaders Lille not having more than a goalless draw against mid-engine Saint-Etienne last week, a win at Angers had to be beaten tonight to always make sure of the tournament. Other than that, Paris Saint-Germain was always the best in France in a victory in Brest. But it will never go that fast.
Jonathan David, the Canadian who made a fuss at AA Gent last year, paved the way again for the night, and his friend in striker Burak Yilmaz removed all doubts. Paris Saint-Germain did what he had to do despite Neymar’s early penalty miss – Roman Fever and Kylian Mbappe’s goal were enough for victory. But the title went, after ten years of exploitation that Eden Hazard realized it, back to Lille.
And so it also became a disappointing season under the leadership of Mauricio Pochettino for the Qataris who took the medal in Paris Saint-Germain. The Cup and Super Cup were won, but the Parisians were exposed to early news by Kevin De Bruyne and Man City in the UEFA Champions League. So tonight, disaster followed in the French league. Next season?
Juventus feel good
They undoubtedly hope so in Naples, too. And in Juventus. The Old Lady previously saw a nine-year domination that was broken by Inter and Romelu Lukaku and only managed to secure a Champions League ticket tonight.
Along with Milan, Atalanta and Naples, there had to be a fight between themselves who would get the three remaining tickets for the champion’s ball and in the end it was Napoli who would fall by the wayside. Dres Mertens, who was only allowed in in the 71st minute, could not prevent his team from taking damage in Verona (1-1). Milan, with Alexis Sailemakers on the pitch for 79 minutes, defeated Atalanta (0-2), while Juventus relieved themselves of their mission against Bologna (1-4).
It was crucial in this win that Cristiano Ronaldo stayed glued to the bench for 90 minutes – and that was in a match that had to be won. Another indication: He may not like the Portuguese goalscoring machine in Turin next year …
Final result in the Italian League:
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