Psg Vs Monaco: Holders survive huge scare to reach Champions League last 16 in psg vs monaco tie
Paris St-Germain progressed to the Champions League last 16 after a 2-2 draw with Monaco, winning the tie 5-4 on aggregate in the psg vs monaco fixture. The result sends the holders into the knockout stage, with their next opponents to be decided in the Friday draw at 11: 00 GMT.
Match turning points: Akliouche opener, Coulibaly red and a swift PSG reply
Maghnes Akliouche opened the scoring for Monaco just before half-time after Mamadou Coulibaly threaded a through-ball that allowed Akliouche to curl a first-time finish into the bottom corner the post. The match swung after Coulibaly was sent off, leaving Monaco with 10 men and changing the momentum of the tie.
Details of Mamadou Coulibaly's dismissal and the immediate Marquinhos response
Mamadou Coulibaly picked up two yellow cards in three minutes and was sent off for a tackle on Achraf Hakimi; he had been booked a few minutes earlier for a foul on Nuno Mendes and then received a second yellow for the late challenge. The Romanian referee showed the second yellow, and PSG levelled almost immediately when Marquinhos turned in a low cross from Desire Doue after the resulting set-piece sequence.
Monaco's set-up, chances and the roles of Akliouche and Folarin Balogun
Coach Sebastien Pocognoli had Monaco set up in a 5-3-1-1, with Maghnes Akliouche supporting central striker Folarin Balogun. Balogun, described as a US national team star who scored twice in the first leg, and Akliouche combined to create earlier openings: Coulibaly blazed over from an Akliouche cutback, Balogun saw a chip tipped over by Matfei Safonov, and Bradley Barcola struck the bar for PSG. Safonov later only partially cleared a cross into the home box before Caio Henrique returned the ball and Coulibaly laid it off for Akliouche to slot in.
Kvaratskhelia's 66th-minute strike, goalkeeper note and late Monaco rally
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put PSG ahead on the night in the 66th minute, firing in from close range after Achraf Hakimi's low strike was parried into his path by Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Kohn/Philipp Koehn. In stoppage time Jordan Teze turned in a deflected Simon Adingra centre to make it 2-2, a late consolation as PSG held on; Wout Faes very nearly added another for Monaco in the closing moments.
First-leg context, wider tie implications and recent form notes
The defending European champions had come from two down to win 3-2 in the principality in last week's first leg, giving PSG a 3-2 lead into the second leg. That first-leg contest also featured a Monaco sending-off early in the second half. With the 2-2 draw here, PSG advance 5-4 on aggregate and will discover their last-16 opponents in the Friday draw at 11: 00 GMT; possible rivals named for the holders include Barcelona and Chelsea, and the draw maps potential routes all the way to the final in Budapest.
Background and recent encounters between the clubs
Paris beat Barcelona 2-1 away during the league phase in October and have met Barcelona in five knockout ties since 2013. PSG played Chelsea in the final of the Club World Cup last year, losing 3-0, cited as their only blip in an otherwise strong campaign. Monaco sit eighth in Ligue 1, 20 points behind leaders PSG but had beaten Paris in November; the principality side had not won a Champions League knockout tie since their run to the semi-finals in 2017, a run that featured a teenage Kylian Mbappe. Monaco had managed only one victory in their last 10 trips to the Parc des Princes, and PSG were without last year's Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele because of a calf injury.
Match statistics and fan ratings were collected after the game closed for submissions; match momentum measures used in post-match analysis compare each team’s threat each minute to show who is more likely to score in that period.
