MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) – Paris St Germain blamed themselves for missing early chances as they lost 2-0 to Bayern Munich on Wednesday and crashed out of the Champions League in the last 16.
Coach Christophe Galtier’s star-studded team that includes striker Kylian Mbappe and world champion Lionel Messi failed to score against Bayern over two legs, losing 3-0 on aggregate and seeing their hopes of clinching Europe’s top club trophy disappear for another year.
“It’s a big disappointment,” Galtier said. “We have to deal with it and accept it. There’s a lot of disappointment in the dressing room.”
“I don’t know if it’s a lesson to be learned, but there’s a lot of frustration. If we’d scored first, it would have been different, but we didn’t.”
PSG made a strong start and France forward Mbappe had an early opportunity before Messi went close with a double chance of his own in the 25th minute.
“We didn’t open the scoring when we had the chance. We did well in the first half, we felt we could match our opponents, but we didn’t put away our chances,” said Galtier.
Instead it was Bayern who opened the scoring when Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting tapped-in in the 61st minute before a late second goal from Serge Gnabry sealed their win.
“We conceded what was a really stupid first goal at this level. Yes, there was pressure from Bayern, but sometimes you mustn’t be ashamed to play it long to get over the pressing,” Galtier said.
“When you’re behind after an hour’s play, it’s difficult.”
His team’s latest European failure — their fifth last-16 exit in seven years — adds pressure on Galtier, who refused to speculate on his future at the club.
“It’s a big disappointment but we have to swallow it. It is too soon to talk about my future. I’m focused to the end of the season with a lot of energy and determination.”
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)
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