Champions League: New format brings high drama as PSG edge Atalanta
Last updated on .From the section European Football
The hope was it would feel like a World Cup - seven games in 11 days. And day one of the Champions League mini-tournament in Lisbon delivered.
Two-legged ties are good, but are one-off games better?
Paris St-Germain scored two late goals, separated by 146 seconds, to come from behind and knock out Champions League debutants Atalanta.
Here's what the first, dramatic taste of the final eight - and the spectacle of one-game, knockout football - gave us.
Would Mbappe have even played?
PSG were labouring up front with half an hour to go when Kylian Mbappe came on and changed the game.
The 21-year-old was initially expected to miss the match after spraining his ankle last month, with boss Thomas Tuchel saying it would take a "miracle".
As the game got closer their hopes grew and the France World Cup winner was passed fit for the bench.
But the question is: would they have risked him if this had not been an all-or-nothing tie?
BT Sport pundit and former England manager Glenn Hoddle thought not. "If there was a second leg they'd have held Mbappe back," he said.
The ex-Stoke City man the hero
Right, we all had a good laugh when PSG signed Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting on a free transfer from Stoke City. And again when he was guilty of one of the worst misses of all time.
And again when the French champions brought him on when their season was on the line with 11 minutes to go.
But he had the last laugh.
Cameroon forward Choupo-Moting scored the winner - with one of his six touches - from Mbappe's cross, only 149 seconds after Marquinhos' equaliser.
"I thought when I was coming on: 'We can't lose, we can't go home like this.' I was confident in myself and the team. It was a little history of Paris," the 31-year-old said afterwards.
BBC Sport live text reader Amrul Choudhury posted on social media: "Can he do it on a cold Tuesday night at Stoke? Yes he can! Can he do it on a hot summer evening in Portugal in the Champions League quarter-final? Yes he can!"
James Hardy countered with: "Can't do it on a cold Tuesday in Stoke, but can do it in the middle of a heatwave in Lisbon."
Choupo-Moting only scored five goals in his season at Stoke - none on a Tuesday, let alone a cold one.
The sublime to the ridiculous for Neymar
Neymar scored in a Champions League final victory for Barcelona five years ago and was widely expected to be the man to deliver the trophy to Paris when PSG dished out 222m euros (£200m) for the forward in 2017.
But the club had not gone beyond the last-16 stage with him in their ranks before this season.
On Wednesday, the Brazil star managed to fit two games' worth of form into one match, rising from the ridiculous to the sublime across 90 minutes.
He should have put them ahead in Lisbon inside three minutes and missed another great chance before the break.
But there was also the nutmegging of Atalanta's goalscorer Mario Pasalic, beating two more men and shooting a yard wide from 20 yards. He ended the game with seven shots, four key passes and an assist.
"I never thought of going home," he said.
"No-one will take this desire to go to the final away from me. We are a great group, we are a family, so we know that with this state of mind, it is impossible to eliminate us.
"My desire is to win the Champions League - it was there long before arriving here."
Should one-legged ties be here to stay?
The one-legged nature of this tie helped the late drama. Would PSG have gone all out for late goals if they had another game next week?
Hoddle said: "It makes things gung-ho and exciting. In knockout situations and a one-off like that you just want those champagne moments. We got 149 seconds of magical play and they've won the game. I still do like the two-legged affairs though."
James on #bbcfootball said: "Uefa should do this format from now on for both Europa League and Champions League. One-legged ties at neutral venues are so much better and more entertaining. Loved tonight's game. Plus you couldn't get through on the joke that is the away goals rule."
Michael Reid said: "I absolutely love this end-of-season knockout format! One-legged games, both teams needing to go for it!"
What do you think?
If you are viewing this page on the BBC News app please click here to vote.
Not everyone had such a good experience amid the drama though.
Adam tweeted BBC Sport to say: "Devastating 20 mins... Daughter wakes up screaming on 87 mins. As I pick her up, she pokes me straight in the eye (which is still hurting). Turns out she's done an explosive poo. Back downstairs to find out PSG have scored twice in injury time."
- Film: The Revenant: Leonardo DiCaprio stars in an epic tale of survival
- Celeb Lock-In: Wayne and Frankie Bridge join the hilarious mayhem
Comments
Join the conversation
“No proper big teams left in”
So you don’t consider 5 times winners Bayern Munich & Barcelona big teams? Yet you think 3 times winners ManU and 2 times winners Juventus are big teams? Sorry I do not understand your logic.
Once the novelty wears off from these makeshift games and the new normal sets in we will be left with teams with no identity, artificial atmosphere and even worse, some teams not existing at all.
State Aid funding via 'sponsorship deals' with their owners other companies, no atmosphere, no fans - this will be football's future if we're not careful.
MC and PSG are flourishing in the CL because of the sheer amount of money they have spent on their squads. They had to flourish at some point surely. If MC can't win a CL with a near £1bn squad in transfer fees and Pep in charge then when can they?
KYLIAN MBAPPE OR NEYMAR.
MBAPPE ALLDAY FOR ME
Probably, but the club owners would lose out on lucrative match day money and additional TV rights so I doubt they will vote for it.
European ties at your home stadium are what every fan looks forward to, and the 2 legged tie not only allows the best team to shine, it's also made for great ties over the years.
Comment 7 is spot on - no surprise at all that plastic clubs are thriving under these rules, as they don't play in front of fans anyway!
- Spurs beating City and Ajax on away goals (4-4 & 3-3)
- Liverpool overcoming a 3-0 first leg defeat vs Barca
- Ajax beating Real 5-3 - lost 2-1 at home, won 4-1 at the Bernabau
- United beating PSG on away goals with a late penalty after losing at OT 2-0
- Porto beating Roma in e.t 4-3 over two legs
The comment criticizes the present levels of commercialisation in football. As this is a football hys, the 'agreement' is, presumably, supported by football fans. Presumably, the same fans who are prepared to pay £100 for a shirt worth c.£5.
Prepared to pay the inflated prices charged for C L games, home and away.
If you don't mind paying, why criticize?
So you’re saying the only reason LFC has taken 30 years to win the premier league is because of referees being allowed to get decisions wrong.
Ok mate, if you say so, I’ll go with that 😄