Paris Saint-Germain are out of the Coupe de France after a home loss to OGC Nice on penalties, 6-5, on Monday after a scoreless 90 minutes.
Xavi Simons was the unlucky fall guy at Parc des Princes after Gianluigi Donnarumma had denied Andy Delort to atone for Leandro Paredes’ saved effort.
To make matters worse for PSG, Marcin Bulka saved from both Simons and Paredes as a loanee from the French capital outfit to Nice.
“I respect PSG as I am on loan and I love the club,” said Bulka after his heroics. “However, we came here to eliminate them and we did that. I do not know if I knew where the shots would go, but I felt it. Ultimately, I chose wisely. I am happy.”
It was a drab 90-minute affair which verged on being like a training session at times before going straight to spot kicks without extra time.
Mauricio Pochettino sent Kylian Mbappe on from the bench to no avail after Lionel Messi and his teammates had toiled for the most part of the match.
“We must be more clinical,” Pochettino admitted after the final whistle. “When you get to penalties, it is a lottery. You have to take your chances in front of goal before getting to pens. With Kylian, he had some discomfort over the past few days so we decided not to risk him from the start.”
With Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on Paramount+ now looming, Pochettino could be in trouble Les Parisiens fail to advance past the Spanish giants.
“Nice are happy to have won on penalties,” said Marco Verratti post-match. “It is a lottery. Pens have given me joy in the past, this time it was a defeat. We must not let our heads drop. We have other important games coming up.”
“Of course, this is a disappointment,” captain Presnel Kimpembe said. “We want to win everything and be in contention for all of it. Unfortunately, we have fallen on penalties.”
