Neymar is in dreamland after PSG came from a goal down to beat Atalanta 2-1 to book their place in the Uefa Champions League semifinals. The Brazilian said he now hopes Paris Saint-Germain will carry on to the finals, whether they face RB Leipzig or Atletico Madrid in their semi.
Mario Pasalic’s first-half goal for Atalanta had PSG on the brink of elimination heading into injury time but the Brazilian defender produced an incredible 90th minute equalizer.
While all eyes were on Neymar who produced one of his best nights for the French Champions, he somehow contrived to miss some of his best opportunities and the night finally belonged to Cameroon International, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who scored the winner with seconds remaining – booting PSG through to the semifinals for the first time since 1994.
Neymar was overjoyed as he told RMC Sport after the game:
“I never thought of elimination, I never thought of going home,”
“From start to finish, we thought about qualifying for the semi-finals.
“No-one is going to take my mind off that – I want to go to the final. Another level will come from us.
“We are very happy, we are experiencing very strong things. We are a great group, a family, with this state of mind it’s impossible to eliminate us.
“We never gave up, even in difficult circumstances. The desire that I have to win the Champions League was present long before this match, it never left.”
“There is one game left to go to the final. We will give everything, we will do everything to win,” he said.
“It was difficult – Atalanta is a great team, which has played well all season and have been the surprise of the competition.
“We knew that they were very aggressive, that they pressed all over the pitch. They played really well, so we are very happy with what we did.
“Now we’re going to rest because this was a mentally exhausting match.”
