Paris Saint-Germain snatched a thrilling victory against its host Maccabi Haifa, in the two teams’ match, which took place today, Wednesday, in the second round of the group stage of the Champions League.
The hosts advanced with a Chery goal in the 24th minute, and Saint-Germain responded with a hat-trick through Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar in the 37th, 69th and 88th minutes.
The French league champion raised his score to 6 points at the top of Group H, while Maccabi Haifa was bottom of the standings with its second loss in a row.
PSG imposed control from the start and Mbappe almost scored after less than two minutes, but the goalkeeper saved his goal.
The Paris giant lacked offensive ferocity, and Messi, Neymar and Vetnia’s attempts were not enough to score.
Amid complete Parisian control, Gianluigi Donnarumma, the Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper, received a surprise goal in his net.
Saint-Germain was confused after this goal, while the hosts were relatively active, and pressed hard in pursuit of the second goal against Donnarumma.
However, Messi disengaged and scored the equalizer after 13 minutes, after which Mbappe and Marquinhos missed two chances for Paris before the end of the first half.
Saint-Germain entered the atmosphere of the second half of the match very slowly, leaving the opportunity for its opponent to exchange attacks, but the experience factor favored the guests.
Despite the modest performance of Saint-Germain, coach Christoph Galtet kept the starting lineup and did not interfere with the bench until the last quarter of an hour.
Fabian Ruiz took the place of Vitina, while Ashraf Hakimi replaced Nordi Mukele 5 minutes before the end of the match.
Maccabi Haifa collapsed over time, and his lines disintegrated, so Neymar took advantage of the opportunity, scoring the third goal after a pass from Marco Verratti.
Then Neymar left the field to replace Carlos Soler in injury time, which extended for more than 7 minutes.
