Paris Saint-Germain was knocked out of the French Cup after losing 2-1 to Marseille in the round of 16 on Wednesday. Since PSG was taken over by Qatar Sport Investment (QSI) in 2011, Marseille had only defeated the reigning Ligue 1 champions on two occasions prior to Wednesday’s game.
Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring with a penalty to hand Marseille a 34th-minute lead before Sergio Ramos headed home an equalizer for the visitors on the stroke of halftime. Ruslan Malinovskyi fired home a half-volley from outside the box in the 57th minute to restore Marseille’s lead and send them into the quarterfinals.
“They pressed high and we did not manage to break the lines. It hurts because it was a Cup game against our great rival,” PSG captain Marquinos commented after the loss. He recommended that the team “shut [their] mouth and work” in order to recover from the loss.
So far, 2023 has proven to be a challenging year for PSG, with the team losing three games already. PSG’s season is about to get tougher as they prepare to face the in-form Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 clash.
