PSG boss shrugs off shock loss

PARIS - Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery shrugged off concerns about this week's Champions League clash with Bayern Munich after his side fell to its first Ligue 1 defeat of the season, a 2-1 loss at Strasbourg on Saturday.

Neymar's PSG travels to Munich knowing that it will top Group B as long as it doesn't lose 4-0 to Bayern, and asked by reporters if he was worried about his team ahead of the clash, Emery replied: "No. Tuesday's match is a big test against a team that also wants to go far in the Champions League.

"We want to show that we want to have a good season."

PSG could have its Ligue 1 lead cut on Sunday, with Marseille and Lyon looking to capitalize on the shock result in Alsace.

But Emery insisted that his team deserved to win and wasn't worried about the performance.

"We had plenty of opportunities to score and not lose the game, but we weren't clinical in front of goal," said the Spaniard.

"We deserved to win so I'm not worried."

Stephane Bahoken downed PSG with a bullet finish in the 65th minute to drag Strasbourg away from relegation trouble and up to 14th.

The exhausted Strasbourg players charged over to their gobsmacked fans at the final whistle of a breathless encounter which saw the host hold off a bombardment from its all-star guests that lasted right to the end of the nine minutes of stoppage time.

"To beat a team like that you need all the planets to align and you need to go above and beyond," said Strasbourg coach Thierry Laurey.

"They fought like lions out there. I am very proud of this team."

Like his manager, PSG defender Marquinhos remained philosophical about the defeat.

"We missed out tonight. We created chances but we weren't able to convert them. We conceded two silly goals, we lacked a bit of concentration," the Brazilian told Canal+.

"We will learn from this. We have a very important match coming up and we need to think about that already."

Radamel Falcao closed in on Ligue 1 top scorer Cavani with his 14th goal of the season as Monaco took advantage of PSG's defeat with its first win in four games to move second, nine points behind the leader.

The Colombian's second-minute strike was enough for Leonardo Jardim's team to scrape past second-bottom Angers 1-0.

On Sunday, third-place Marseille was due to travel to Montpellier, while Lyon, in fourth, had a trip to Caen.

Agence France-presse

(China Daily 12/04/2017 page23)