Anonymous player helps PSG escape in the 90+3 minute

Willian Pacho, a name unfamiliar to most fans, had an impressive performance to help PSG win a ticket to the semi-finals of the 2024/25 Champions League.

Willian Pacho jumped to block the ball with his right thigh, saving PSG from a goal.

Since Luis Enrique took charge, PSG have reached the Champions League semi-finals in back-to-back seasons, something they have only done five times in their history. But unlike last season, when PSG won more on individual moments than on the game, they played convincingly and with a collective quality.

One of the reasons for this change is Willian Pacho. The Ecuadorian central defender was recruited for a fee of nearly 50 million euros. When he arrived in Paris, he was not a big star, but the PSG leadership saw in Pacho something that most people had not seen. That was the ideal shield next to Marquinhos.

And he showed exactly that at the most fateful moment. In the 90+3 minute of the second leg of the quarter-final at Villa Park in the early morning of April 16, when the French capital team was holding a fragile advantage, a powerful volley by Ian Maatsen (Aston Villa) seemed to send the match into extra time.

That was when Pacho dived to block the ball with his right thigh, dashing the home team's last hope. The cameras caught Unai Emery collapsing on the touchline, and PSG advanced to the semi-finals.

"Luis Enrique and his teammates now owe Pacho a dinner, because without that divine intervention, PSG's Champions League dream could have vanished in an instant," wrote Mundo Deportivo .

After beating Aston Villa 5-3 on aggregate, PSG will face either Arsenal or Real Madrid in the semi-finals of this season's Champions League.

Source: https://znews.vn/cau-thu-vo-danh-giup-psg-thoat-hiem-phut-90-3-post1546199.html