UCL’s ‘migrant team’ is also excluded… The local evaluation was harsh.
Lee Kang-in, who was criticized by local media for his 60-minute performance against Barcelona, has been left out of the UEFA Champions League team of the week.
UEFA announced the teams of the week for the Champions League quarterfinal first leg on its official website on Nov. 11 (KST). The team was selected based on the 3-5-2 formation, but none of the players played the full 60 minutes against Barcelona.
Vitinha is the only Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) player included. Gregoire Cobell (Borussia Dortmund) is in goal, while the defense is a combination of Ben White (Arsenal), Andreas Christensen (Barcelona), and Joshko Gvardiol (Manchester City).
In the midfield, Vitinha, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden (over Man City), Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), and Rodrigo DePaul (Atletico Madrid). The two spots in the attacking third were filled by PSG’s sinking Zafinha and Atletico Madrid ace Antoine Griezmann.
On this day, PSG lost 2-3 at home to Barcelona in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals of the 2023-24 season at the Parc des Princes in Paris, France. After battling back from behind, they fell to their knees.
It was Barcelona who took the early lead. In the 37th minute, Gianluigi Donnarumma came out of his goal to deal with a cross from Lamine Yamal, but Donnarumma’s cross found Hapinha, who calmly collected the ball before firing a right-footed shot that rattled the net. The PSG defense tried to clear it with their heads but were not in the right position.
PSG made a change at the start of the second half. They brought on youngster Bradley Barcola for Marco Asensio, who had had a minimal impact in the first half. The move paid off, as the equalizer came almost immediately. Three minutes into the second half, a Ronald Araujo clearance found Ousmane Dembele, who fooled the defense with a folding move before slotting home a left-footed shot to tie the game. The former Barcelona man scored against Barcelona and turned the tables on his hometown team.
The momentum was on their side and they quickly turned the game around. Five minutes into the second half, Bittinha received the ball through Lee Kang-in and Fabian Luis and calmly slotted a right-footed shot into the back of the net against the Barcelona defense. It was Vitinha’s first goal in the Champions League.
PSG then took control of the game and looked to be on their way to victory at home, but Barcelona’s substitution strategy caught up with them. Barcelona took off Sergi Roberto in the 15th minute of the second half and brought on Pedri. Almost immediately after coming on, Pedri set up the equalizer with a fantastic roving pass.
Barcelona then took off Franck De Jong and brought on Christensen. Christensen headed home Ilkay Gündoğan’s cross from a corner in the 32nd minute for the winner. PSG were unlucky not to pull a goal back, with Dembele’s shot hitting the post.
Lee Kang-In also started the game in central midfield, but failed to register an attacking point in 60 minutes before being replaced by Warren Zaire Emery.
He opened up the offense with two first-half shots on target and orchestrated the play with well-timed passes. In addition to playing a key role in Vitinha’s goal that led to the equalizer, he completed 94 percent of his passes on the day, created three 먹튀검증 chances (most), had two shots (two on target), one tackle and one recovery.
However, the local French media was quick to criticize Lee, giving him the lowest rating in the team.
“Along with Asensio, he was a surprise starter in place of Zaire Emery, but the comparison in terms of physical impact was striking. In particular, he didn’t seem to understand his role as a half-winger and ultimately didn’t play either role well. It wasn’t until Zaire Emery came on for Lee Kang-In that he was able to fulfill his usual role on the right side of midfield.”
France 90min also had harsh words for Lee. “Lee had some really good chances in this game but failed to score. He had two shots on target, but they were too fragile,” and “He could have taken risks and tried to unbalance their defense on several occasions, but he never did. Too often he went sideways or backwards,” and awarded him four points for playing too safe.
It’s a hard assessment to accept given the way Lee played throughout the match. Lee was instrumental in helping PSG turn the tide early in the second half. In fact, PSG conceded two goals in quick succession after he was taken off.
Lee was a key contributor to the team’s success with his movement and link-up play, and his energetic work rate allowed him to press hard forward and prevent the opposition midfield from advancing. However, the loss of Lee threw PSG off balance in the middle of the park, and they quickly surrendered the lead to Barcelona.
After receiving harsh criticism from local media, Lee was left out of UEFA’s official team of the week and was not recognized for his performance.
After suffering a bitter first leg defeat at home, PSG will travel to Barcelona, Spain, on May 17 for the second leg of the quarterfinals at the Estadio Olimpico Luis Companis.