Paris Saint-Germain advanced safely into the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday, beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at the Parc des Princes in their last 16, second leg to take the tie 6-1 on aggregate.
Trailing 4-0 from the first leg in Germany three weeks ago, the Germans took an early lead on the night through Sidney Sam, but Marquinhos equalised soon after.
Leverkusen captain Simon Rolfes had a penalty saved before Ezequiel Lavezzi put PSG in front eight minutes into the second period, and the sending-off of Emre Can saw the Bundesliga club bow out with 10 men.
“I’m feeling a bit sorry for the team that we didn’t get anything from the game,” said Leverkusen coach Sami Hyypia after seeing his side lose for the sixth time in seven matches.
“The starting point was difficult after losing 4-0 at home but we can take a lot of confidence for the future.”
No team had ever been eliminated from a European knock-out tie after winning 4-0 away in the first leg and PSG coach Laurent Blanc made the most of his side’s comfortable cushion by rotating his squad, as Thiago Motta and Alex dropped to the bench.
Blaise Matuidi was rested altogether to avoid the risk of incurring a suspension for the next round.
It was still a strong PSG line-up, with Edinson Cavani starting for the first time in over a month after injury but, perhaps understandably, there was an air of complacency about the hosts early on, and Leverkusen took full advantage.
“It’s all well and good saying to the players `forget the first game’ but it’s true that subconsciously you tell yourself you’ve got a bit of a cushion,” said PSG coach Laurent Blanc. “But there were players out there who don’t play that much and you have to show your best level. The Champions League is a level above and I was expecting more from my team.”
A low long-range strike by Can that was pushed around the post by Salvatore Sirigu served as a warning to the Ligue 1 leaders, although it was not heeded, and the visitors opened the scoring in the sixth minute.
A lovely move started by Rolfes on the left saw Gonzalo Castro spread the play to Giulio Donati on the right flank, and the Italian’s cross was headed home by Sam at the back post.
If that raised hopes among the boisterous travelling support that their team could pull off the most improbable of comebacks, then those hopes were short-lived, as the equaliser on the night came just seven minutes later.
After Bernd Leno saved from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Yohan Cabaye’s resulting corner from the right was met by a thumping Marquinhos header that the German keeper could only help on its way into the net.
It was the young Brazilian defender’s third goal in this season’s Champions League and the hosts almost went on to take the lead shortly after but Ibrahimovic clipped his shot against the crossbar after a Cavani pass left him with just the keeper to beat.
Leverkusen’s recent form had increased the pressure on Hyypia, but they played some nice football in the first period and were handed the opportunity to retake the lead in the 28th minute.
When Christophe Jallet pulled back Eren Derdiyok inside the area, Croatian referee Ivan Bebek did not hesitate in pointing to the spot, and yet Rolfes saw his effort from 12 yards kept out as Sirigu made a great save diving low to his left.
Leno saved from Cavani at the other end shortly before the interval and PSG then took the lead eight minutes into the second period as Lucas Digne’s low ball from the left was fired low into the net by Lavezzi, for whom it was a fifth goal in his last six games.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men when Can was shown a second yellow card for diving midway through the second half, but they were spared greater punishment in the closing stages.
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BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
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Company Profile
Company name: Namara
Started: June 2022
Founder: Mohammed Alnamara
Based: Dubai
Sector: Microfinance
Current number of staff: 16
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Family offices
Key Points
- Protests against President Omar Al Bashir enter their sixth day
- Reports of President Bashir's resignation and arrests of senior government officials
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Inside Out 2
Director: Kelsey Mann
Starring: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri
Rating: 4.5/5
CRICKET WORLD CUP LEAGUE 2
Mannofield, Aberdeen
All matches start at 2pm UAE time and will be broadcast on icc.tv
UAE fixtures
Wednesday, Aug 10 – Scotland v UAE
Thursday, Aug 11 - UAE v United States
Saturday, Aug 14 – Scotland v UAE
Monday, Aug 15 – UAE v United States
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, Vriitya Aravind, CP Rizwan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Zawar Farid, Kashif Daud, Karthik Meiyappan, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Sabir Ali, Alishan Sharafu
Table (top three teams advance directly to the 2023 World Cup Qualifier)
1. Oman 36 21 13 1 1 44
2. Scotland 24 16 6 0 2 34
3. UAE 22 12 8 1 1 26
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4. Namibia 18 9 9 0 0 18
5. United States 24 11 12 1 0 23
6. Nepal 20 8 11 1 0 17
7. Papua New Guinea 20 1 19 0 0 2
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The National selections
Al Ain
5pm: Bolereau
5.30pm: Rich And Famous
6pm: Duc De Faust
6.30pm: Al Thoura
7pm: AF Arrab
7.30pm: Al Jazi
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Jebel Ali
1.45pm: AF Kal Noor
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Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
TO CATCH A KILLER
Director: Damian Szifron
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Ben Mendelsohn, Ralph Ineson
Rating: 2/5
Financial considerations before buying a property
Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
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In numbers
Number of Chinese tourists coming to UAE in 2017 was... 1.3m
Alibaba’s new ‘Tech Town’ in Dubai is worth... $600m
China’s investment in the MIddle East in 2016 was... $29.5bn
The world’s most valuable start-up in 2018, TikTok, is valued at... $75bn
Boost to the UAE economy of 5G connectivity will be... $269bn
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded