Mehul Bhattacharya: Manchester City faced off against Paris Saint Germain in what promised to be an interesting clash, with a spot in the Champions League final at stake. Manchester City were fighting to claim their first ever spot in the Champions League final, while PSG were fighting for redemption, having fallen to Bayern Munich in the final the previous year.
PSG started the game with Mbappe on the bench, while Icardi took his place up front, a change which was necessitated by circumstance, but damaging to PSG nonetheless. PSG were quite threatening in the first 5 to 10 minutes, but failed to get a shot on target, a problem which plagued them throughout the game. Right around the turn of the 11th minute, however, Mahrez slotted in a routine chance to put Manchester City in front. PSG got a sizeable number of chances throughout the game, but failed to capitalize on them. Both sides were presented with their fair share of opportunities, and it is safe to say that Manchester City were far more clinical in front of goal. Mahrez netted a second in the 63rd minute off a brilliant pass from Foden to pretty much seal the deal for Manchester City.
A notable event occurred in the 69th minute, when Di Maria was sent off, leaving PSG in an even worse position, as they were faced with having to battle City with 10 men. At the other end, City’s Ruben Dias put in a brilliant performance at centre-back, which was game-changing to say the least. He was pivotal in stopping several PSG attacks, and his performance earned him the man of the match award, in a game which saw Manchester City win 2-0 to progress to the final, having beaten PSG 4-1 on aggregate.