TOPS
The round of 16 of the Champions League between PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund (1-1) was synonymous with a reunion for Donyell Malen, PSV player from 2017 to 2021. And for his return, the Dutchman did not spare his former teammates. After two first shots as a warm-up, Malen adjusted the sights. In the 24th minute, he took the ball to himself and worked his way through until he found a right-footed shot from a tight angle. Benitez beaten, the elder of the house did not celebrate. Too late…the damage was done.
The perfect copy of the 2014 world champion was wrongly soiled… Mats Hummels dazzled the meeting of his class in the line of four Borussia defenders. Imperial in the air and on the ground, the experienced central did not let a ball escape his head, and cut off all the PSV ground crosses. Impeccable in the restart, he even improvised as Laurent Blanc in the 70th minute by recovering the ball from the feet of his backheel attacker. Unfortunately, his excess of commitment was punished by the referee, Mr. Jovanovic, and the VAR truck, who decided to whistle the penalty which allowed PSV to equalize (53rd).
FLOPS
They are the strength of this PSV team, but this evening they stalled in front of the cage of Alexander Meyer, last minute replacement for an injured Gregor Kobel during the warm-up. Bakayoko, Tilman, Saibari, three young players who narrowly missed in their final moves. Neither Tilman, who shot wide at the start of the match, nor Bakayoko, who lacked power in his shots, was successful in front of goal. Saibari saw a few of his passes blocked before becoming decisive. With a total of 15 shots (compared to 9 for Dortmund), and given the result, they will have something to worry about in the event of disappointment in the return match.
Returning from Manchester United, the prodigy is struggling to find rhythm in the team that revealed him. Placed on the left wing of the Borussia Dortmund attack, the Englishman was content to play simplicity, when we expected his madness. Bad choices prevented him from making himself more dangerous, while he had a few opportunities to make the difference alone. He has a few months left on loan to relaunch his career in Germany. My expectations for a player of this caliber are high. For the moment, we remain hungry.
