The Parisians secure their place in the Champions League!

The Parisians made their first European trip of the season to the north of Europe. A crucial match for our Rouge et Bleu, with a spot in the group stage of the Champions League on the line! Gérard Prêcheur named an impressive line-up with a French and Swedish centre-half partnership of Elisa De Almeida and Amanda Ilestedt and an outstanding attacking trio of Martens-Bachmann-Diani. 

Just as they did in the first leg, the Parisians set the tone and dominated from the outset. Lieke Martens (9'), Kadidiatou Diani (10') and Ramona Bachmann (13') all took turns creating chances, but the Swedish defence held strong. After twenty minutes of one-way traffic, the Gothenburg players came close to opening the scoring, but Sarah Bouhaddi's save ensured that the Parisians stayed in front (19'). The French side continued to create chances when Diani had two attempts on goal (27', 39').

After the break, Paris Saint-Germain's women's team quickly got into the swing of things and took the lead. Lieke Martens, who had already scored in the first leg, returned the favour with a fine cross to Bachmann who fired the ball into the back of the net (0-1, 53'). The Parisians were on their way and the Swedes were stunned. But after a period of attacking football, the captain Geyoro found Diani who gave Jennifer Falk no chance and doubled the lead (0-2, 60'). Despite the fact that they had almost clinched qualification, the Parisians were not done yet. With Martens' header (66'), Bachmann's powerful shot (68'), Diani's two efforts (79'), the Parisians’ created a lot of chances and were showing their intent. The Swedish side were courageous and held out against the Rouge et Bleu onslaughts and did not concede another goal, but the Parisians were the ones to qualify!

The Parisian coach had announced that strength, determination, confidence and vigilance were the keys to this second leg and the task was accomplished brilliantly. Last season's semi-finalists, Gérard Prêcheur's players will be back in the Champions League group stage on 19 October. Before that, the Parisians will have to wait until Monday 3rd October to find out who their next three opponents will be in the greatest competition of them all!