Juventus‘ 2022/23 Champions League campaign got off to a disappointing start against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, with the Serie A side falling to a 2-1 defeat at the Parc des Princes. Massimiliano Allegri’s side were unable to deal with the threat posed by Kylian Mbappe, in particular.
With it having been revealed earlier on Tuesday that midfielder Paul Pogba would now have to undergo surgery, against the club and player’s wishes, Juventus came into the game on the wrong foot. They had a number of absentees to manage, new boy Leandro Paredes started, and it showed early on.
Mbappe and Neymar combine as PSG punish Juventus
Despite the rumours of their turbulent relationship causing a bit of a problem in the PSG dressing room, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar combined to lethal effect on Tuesday.
The Brazilian teed up the Frenchman’s first goal of the night with a delightful chipped ball over the Juventus backline, and Mbappe raced onto it and rifled home a volley. To celebrate, Mbappe made the point of singling out Neymar as he pointed toward him to recognise his contribution to the goal.
Mbappe got his second on 21 minutes, this time exchanging passes with former Inter full-back Achraf Hakimi before finishing.
Accusations of selfishness will be thrown at the French forward though as he refused to square to Neymar in the second half, despite the Brazilian facing an open goal, as he instead chose to shoot from a tight angle and hit the side netting.
Not all bad for Juventus despite PSG loss
Although they lost and their Champions League campaign has started poorly as a result, Juventus did put up something of a fight and prevented things from getting out of hand.
Weston McKennie benefitted from some poor goalkeeping by Gianluigi Donnarumma, who got caught under a cross after seeming to misjudge its flight and the American headed home.
