Paris Saint-Germain fell to a 1-0 defeat against VfL Wolfsburg in the first leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final at the Parc des Princes this evening. We take a look back at the game in the capital.
Just days after their precious Coupe de France semi-final win over Thonon Evian, Paris Saint-Germain were back in action in another competition, the UEFA Women's Champions League, for a prestigious clash with VfL Wolfsburg in the first leg of their quarter-final tie. Les Parisiennes' aim was clear: to try to pick up a valuable win on home soil ahead of a tricky trip to Germany for the second leg.
For this European encounter, Gérard Prêcheur once again put his faith in captain Grace Geyoro, who was moved into central defence. Oriane Jean-François and Ramona Bachmann came in to support Kheira Hamraoui in midfield, while Jackie Groenen accompanied Kadidiatou Diani and Sandy Baltimore in Paris's front line.
Carried by the noise from their fans and by the pre-match support of president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the capital club's players took control of the game in the opening minutes, but despite Diani and co.'s attacking intent, Les Parisiennes were confronted with a solid opposition block for the first half-hour. It took a moment of inspiration from Bachmann to force the Wolfsburg goalkeeper into action and send an initial ripple of excitement around the Parc des Princes stands, and after an even first half, the two sides went in on level terms.
In the second half, Les Rouge et Bleu kept up their efforts to open the scoring. After a penalty had been awarded for a foul on Sakina Karchaoui, the referee eventually decided to reverse her decision, depriving the capital club of an opportunity to break the deadlock. A few moments later, she did indeed decide to point to the spot, but this time, it was in favour of the visitors. It was also a double whammy for Paris, who watched the German side open the scoring through Dominique Janssen (0-1, 62') as well as seeing Elisa De Almeida pick up a second yellow card, ending her game prematurely.
A woman down and a goal down, Gérard Prêcheur's players would now have to make a miracle happen. Despite a cruel scenario to say the least, Les Parisiennes dug deep to keep making life difficult for Tommy Stroot's side, but unfortunately, luck would continue to evade them, as they fell to defeat by the narrowest of margins. Before they can think about turning the tide in the second leg in Germany next Thursday, Sandy Baltimore and co. must first prepare for their league game away to Montpellier HSC this Sunday.
Nos Parisiennes s'inclinent face à @VfL_Frauen. Il reste encore le match retour pour aller chercher la qualification en demi-finale de l'#UWCL. #PSGWOB I 0-1 pic.twitter.com/5dtOyA6Vgz
— PSG Féminines (@PSG_Feminines) March 22, 2023