PSG saviour last-gasp victory, Atalanta left with 'great regret'

RESENDING TO INCLUDE SOUNDBITES FROM ATALANTA COACH, GIAN PIERO GASPERINI AND STILL PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE MATCH

VIDEO SHOWS: NEWS CONFERENCES WITH PARIS ST GERMAIN COACH, THOMAS TUCHEL, PARIS ST GERMAIN STRIKER, ERIC MAXIM CHOUPO-MOTING AND ATALANTA COACH, GIAN PIERO GASPERINI, STILL PHOTOGRAPHS FROM PARIS ST GERMAIN'S VICTORY OVER ATALANTA IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINALS

SHOWS:

LISBON, PORTUGAL (AUGUST 12, 2020) (UEFA - NO RESALES. NO COMMERCIAL USE. MUST ON-SCREEN COURTESY "©UEFA 2020")

1. PARIS ST GERMAIN STRIKER, ERIC MAXIM CHOUPO-MOTING, AND COACH, THOMAS TUCHEL, GIVING NEWS CONFERENCE AFTER MATCH AGAINST ATALANTA

2. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARIS ST GERMAIN COACH, THOMAS TUCHEL, SAYING:

"I'm very happy because for me, the goals came very late, that's for sure, but the victory was well-deserved. We've never stopped believing, we've never stopped striking, we've shown a good performance and a great mentality."

3. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

4. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARIS ST GERMAIN COACH, THOMAS TUCHEL, SAYING:

"But on the other hand, we've had an injury today for Keylor Navas. We'll see, and we'll stay positive and focused. We're in the final four and anything is possible."

5. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

6. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARIS ST GERMAIN STRIKER, ERIC MAXIM CHOUPO-MOTING, SAYING:

"I was confident in myself, I was confident in the team. I think the whole never lost hope. Just like the coach has said, we've prepared well in the last two or three months. I personally gave it my all and I'm very happy. The emotion is there, it's hard to describe everything. It's a special story, and I'm very, very happy of course."

7. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

8. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PARIS ST GERMAIN STRIKER, ERIC MAXIM CHOUPO-MOTING, SAYING:

"When I came on, I told myself, 'No, we can't go back home to Paris like that with this exceptional team'. I think New (Neymar) had an exceptional game today with incredible actions, but unfortunately, he didn't score a goal - he could have scored two or three goals. And so when I came on, I told myself, 'Anything is possible in life'."

9. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

VIDEO SHOWS: ATALANTA COACH, GIAN PIERO GASPERINI, COMMENTING AFTER CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MATCH LOSS AGAINST PARIS SAINT GERMAIN

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ATALANTA COACH, GIAN PIERO GASPERINI, SAYING:

"It was a very difficult and hard-fought match for both teams and we clearly have the great regret of having conceded a goal in the final part of the match when it was almost over and this is the thing that hurts the most because at that point we thought we won the game but the game had alternating phases. Once in the lead, we also managed the defence and the game quite well but then Mbappe's entry and Neymar's quality gave PSG the energy to be dangerous but in the final part we thought the match was going well."

11. WHITE FLASH

14. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ATALANTA COACH, GIAN PIERO GASPERINI, SAYING:

"The introduction of (PSG striker, Kylian) Mbappe clearly gave energy to PSG, which was losing at the time. Mbappe has been fundamental for his accelerations and the danger he created, but it seemed that the worst was over and therefore the goal they scored embittered us."

15. WHITE FLASH

16. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ATALANTA COACH, GIAN PIERO GASPERINI, SAYING:

"There is a great balance and we have seen it again tonight. The Champions League is a special competition - it is the competition of details and the details are those that determine things when it is a tight game that can be overturned in two minutes as happened tonight. It is a very balanced competition and also for this very fascinating but the PSG, due to the way in which they passed the round tonight, certainly has the credentials to play the final as well."

17. WHITE FLASH

18. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ATALANTA COACH, GIAN PIERO GASPERINI, SAYING:

"For us, Neymar was still a player that we always paid attention to because we saw that as soon as he had a little space available he was very dangerous. Neymar is a great player and a great champion and also tonight he showed it even though I think that we often managed to limit his plays, but tonight he proved to be a great champion too."

19. WHITE FLASH

20. GASPERINI LEAVING

LISBON, PORTUGAL (AUGUST 12, 2020) (REUTERS PICTURES - ACCESS ALL) (MUTE)

21. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF PARIS ST GERMAIN'S NEYMAR CELEBRATING AFTER THE MATCH

22. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF NEYMAR CELEBRATING WITH ERIC MAXIM CHOUPO-MOTING WHO SCORED THE WINNING GOAL

23. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF CHOUPO-MOTING CELEBRATING

24. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF PARIS ST GERMAIN DEFENDER, MARQUINHOS CELEBRATING - THE BRAZILIAN SCORED PSG'S EQUALISER

25. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF NEYMAR CELEBRATING WITH KYLIAN MBAPPE AFTER THE MATCH

26. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF PARIS ST GERMAIN COACH, THOMAS TUCHEL HUGGING MBAPPE

27. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF TUCHEL EMBRACING PSG CAPTAIN, THIAGO SILVA

STORY: Paris St Germain scored two late goals, including a stoppage-time winner from substitute Eric Choupo-Moting, to beat outsiders Atalanta 2-1 and end the Serie A side's Champions League dream in their quarter-final on Wednesday (August 12).

"The goals came very late, that's for sure, but the victory was well-deserved," PSG coach Thomas Tuchel said at a post-match news conference.

Atalanta, in their first Champions League campaign, went ahead with a curling effort from Mario Pasalic in the 27th minute and held out until the 90th when Brazilian defender Marquinhos equalised for the French champions.

With Atalanta wilting, Choupo-Moting turned the ball home in the third minute of added time to end Qatari-backed PSG's embarrassing run of recent quarter-final and round of 16 exits and send them into the last four for the first time since 1995.

The Ligue 1 side will face either Atletico Madrid or RB Leipzig, who meet on Thursday (August 13), in their semi-final.

"When I came on, I thought to myself, 'We can't lose, we can't go home like that.' I was confident in myself, confident in the team and then the rest is the history of Paris," said Cameroon international Choupo-Moting.

Afterwards, Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini was left with a mixture of regret and pride for his team.

"We clearly have the great regret of having conceded a goal in the final part of the match when it was almost over and this is the thing that hurts the most because at that point we thought we won the game", he said.

"Once in the lead, we also managed the defence and the game quite well but then Mbappe's introduction and Neymar's quality gave PSG the energy to be dangerous but in the final part we thought the match was going well."

The first half was all about Neymar who had four good chances but squandered them all.

The Brazilian burst clear of the Atalanta defence in the third minute but sidefooted wide with only goalkeeper Marco Sportiello to beat.

He also got caught in two minds between shooting and passing to Mauro Icardi, shot wide after another mazy run which included a nutmeg and made a complete hash of another chance gifted to him by Hans Hateboer's wayward back-pass.

(Production: Ardee Napolitano, Fabiano Franchitti)