Riyad Mahrez accused Paris Saint-Germain of ‘losing their nerve’ and ‘kicking’ his Manchester City teammates during the Champions League semi-final tie.
Man City stormed into their first Champions League final with a 4-1 aggregate victory over French giants PSG.
Pep Guardiola’s side, who are on the verge of winning the Premier League, boasted a 2-1 lead ahead of the second leg and cruised to a 2-0 win at the Etihad, with Mahrez scoring both goals.
PSG began to lose their cool after Man City’s second goal, with Angel di Maria sent off for violent conduct and three other players receiving yellow cards.
‘It was a very good game,’ Mahrez said in his post-match interview. ‘We didn’t start well again – we didn’t have a good first half but we got the goal and we were more comfortable.
‘We played well second half and we could have scored more. They lost their nerve and started to kick us and after the red card it was more comfortable.
‘It wasn’t the game plan to counter attack, but they had to come at us and maybe at times we were a bit deeper and we are good on the counter. That’s how the two goals came about and we are happy.’
Mahrez added: ‘You have to be solid and everybody has to be solid defensively and that’s why we did.
‘We didn’t concede much and I think that’s why we’re in the final. It’s good. We have another game on Saturday we need to be win to be league champions and then we’ll concentrate on the Champions League final.’
More to follow…
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