Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star, Neymar has said that he ‘never even thought’ about his team losing their Champions League quarter-finals game despite being minutes away from elimination at the hands of Atalanta.
Atalanta had been put ahead 1-0 by Mario Pasalic’s goal. The Bergamo based team held the Paris club until the 89th minute that Marquinhos equalized. They were undone a minute later by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who ended their debut season in the European clubs’ top competition.
“I never even thought about elimination. Nothing will stop me thinking that we will reach the Final. It was tough, but we are a great team and a real family. It was impossible to think that we might be eliminated,” Neymar told RMC Sport..
This is the first that PSG will be in the Champions League semi-final in over 20 years.
Tuchel PSG absolutely deserved to be in the last four
In the same development, PSG coach, Thomas Tuchel insisted PSG ‘absolutely deserved’ to reach the Champions League semi-final.
The former Borussia Dortmund coach, who said he never got the feeling that his team wouldn’t score against Atalanta said the day won’t be forgotten because it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the club.
“Today was the 50th birthday of the club, so a game like this, on such a historic occasion, having already won four trophies this season and now into the semi-final.
“We certainly will not forget this day,” Tuchel told RMC Sport.
Despite the difficulties against an Atalanta side put together for less than it cost to just sign Kylian Mbappé, Tuchel, who watched the game sitting on an icebox on the touchline, was always confident of a win. He has been using crutches after fracturing a bone in his foot last week.
“I never got the feeling we wouldn’t score a goal eventually. I even told my assistants, once we get one, I’m sure we’ll score a second straight away.
“We played a very, very good match and our qualification for the semi-final is absolutely deserved. Naturally, there was also a bit of luck, but if you watched the whole game, we deserved to go through.
“We were in total control for the second half, found our rhythm and the players who came off the bench were exceptional, making a big difference. The goals were down to the mentality of this group.”
