PSG Win Big Over Lyon But Miss Opportunity to Prepare For Dortmund

It doesn’t get much better than a 5-1 win to advance to a cup final but that’s exactly what Paris Saint-Germain accomplished on Wednesday night against Olympique Lyonnais at the Groupama Stadium.

PSG dismantles Lyon on the road 5-1 and advances to the @coupedefrance final 🔥

🎥 Watch all of the goals 👇 pic.twitter.com/TQHEEzBQ89

— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) March 4, 2020

Lyon actually took the lead after 11 minutes after Layvin Kurzawa’s lazy pass led to a goal for Martin Terrier. After that point though, it was all PSG.

Kylian Mbappé scored the first of his three goals in the 14th minute to level the score at 1-1 going into halftime.

Fernando Marçal received a second yellow card in the 61st minute after handling the ball in the penalty box and was sent off. Neymar Jr. took advantage from the penalty spot and fire PSG into the lead.

Down to 10 men, Lyon struggled to contain PSG’s potent attack. Mbappé all but confirmed the victory with another goal in the 70th minute and Pablo Sarabia piled on in the 81st with one of his own. To rub salt in the wound of the rivals, Mbappé scored his third in stoppage time.

It was a resounding win from Thomas Tuchel’s squad against a team that had defeated Juventus FC and AS Saint-Étienne in their last two matches.

I initially questioned Tuchel’s starting lineup and I still do. With next week’s UEFA Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund, I question why Edinson Cavani, Leandro Paredes, Layvin Kurzawa, and Thomas Meunier were in the starting lineup.

When you look at the options on the bench, Juan Bernat is better than Kurzawa, Mauro Icardi is better than Cavani, Meunier is suspended for the match against Dortmund, and in my opinion, Tanguy Kouassi is a better option than Paredes.

The match against Lyon was a rare opportunity for PSG to face a Champions League caliber opponent in a domestic cup competition and Tuchel failed to give enough minutes to players who should start against Dortmund.

The good news is that Mbappé and Neymar are both in perhaps the best form they’ve been in all season. That might be enough to get past Dortmund but as we’ve seen in previous years, it takes a complete team effort to advance in the Champions League.

Up next for PSG is RC Strasbourg in Ligue 1 action on Saturday. With the Champions League resuming just four days later, escaping that away fixture injury-free is obviously priority number one.

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