Paris Saint-Germain put in an underwhelming display as the Champions League holders were held to a goalless draw by Athletic Club in Wednesday's contest at San Mames.
Match Report
Paris Saint-Germain put in an underwhelming display as the Champions League holders were held to a goalless draw by Athletic Club in Wednesday's contest at San Mames.
PSG created the better openings and saw Bradley Barcola hit the crossbar in the second half, but a mix of poor finishing and fine goalkeeping from Unai Simon meant the visitors had to settle for a point.
Fabian Ruiz volleyed over the bar in the 20th minute, while at the other end, Alex Berenguer's curling effort drew a smart from Matvey Safonov.
PSG ought to have taken the lead on the stroke of half-time when Warren Zaire-Emery's excellent centre found Senny Mayulu, but he side-footed straight at Simon.
Zaire-Emery was himself thwarted by Simon with a stinging effort from just inside the penalty area after the restart, and Barcola was frustrated when he cut in from the left and smashed a right-foot shot off the woodwork.
Fabian had a great chance to win it for Luis Enrique's side late in the game but shot straight at Simon from the left of the area when slipped in by Desire Doue, before seeing his follow-up blocked on the line.
Data Debrief: Wasteful PSG defied by Simon
Prior to this round of matchdays, PSG had netted 51 Champions League goals this calendar year, 13 more than any other side has managed in a single year in major European competition.
But they were uncharacteristically wasteful here, registering 18 shots, 13 of which were from inside the penalty area, though only five were on target.
They generated a hefty 2.05 expected goals (xG) to Athletic's 0.56, and created five big chances in total, but were unable to make the breakthrough.
Simon, admittedly, played a big part, with the Athletic and Spain goalkeeper making four saves in total in an excellent performance between the sticks.
Still, PSG remain third in the league phase with two games to play in January, while Athletic are 28th and in desperate need of wins to make the play-offs.
Match Events
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Line-ups
Athletic Club XI: Berchiche, Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta, Berenguer, Unai Simón, Gorka Guruzeta, Jesús Areso, Dani Vivian, Oihan Sancet, Nico Williams, Adama Boiro, Mikel Jauregizar
Subs: Lekue, I.Williams, Gorosabel, Vesga, Nico Serrano, Álex Padilla, Alejandro Rego, Unai Gómez, Jon de Luis, Asier Hierro, Mikel Santos, Selton Sánchez
PSG XI: Marquinhos, Fabian Ruiz, Safonov, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Vitinha, Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Barcola, Zaire-Emery, João Neves, Mayulu
Subs: Kang-in Lee, Gonçalo Ramos, Ilya Zabarnyi, Doue, Renato Marin, Mbaye, Quentin Ndjantou, Martin James