AS Monaco 2-3 PSG: Désiré Doué dazzles as Paris come from two goals down to win

Paris Saint-Germain is looking to take a good option over the qualification for the Round of 16 of the Champions League as they travelled to Stade Louis II to face fellow Ligue 1 side AS Monaco in the Play-offs of the competition.

Luis Enrique and his team have lost 3-1 to Rennes this weekend and saw RC Lens claim back the top spot of the league. The European Champions will therefore hope to bounce back and win the first-leg of the tie.

For this game, Luis Enrique still has to do without Fabian Ruiz and Quentin Ndjantou who are recovering from injuries. Meanwhile, the Spaniard tactician decided to make only two changes to the starting lineup that fell in Brittany against Rennes with Illia Zabarnyi making way for club captain Marquinhos who will partner Willian Pacho in the heart of PSG's defence.

Additionally, Bradley Barcola replaces Désiré Doué in the front line. The 2025 Golden Boy has had a noticeable dip in form recently and was likely the one targeted by Dembélé's rant at the end of the Rennes' game.

Paris Saint-Germain's starting XI: Safonov; Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes, Hakimi; Warren Zaire-Emery, Vitinha, Joao Neves; Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé, Barcola.

AS Monaco's starting XI: Kohn; Teze, Faes, Caio Henrique, Vanderson; Camara, Zakaria, Golovin, Adingra, Akliouche, Balogun.

The Désiré Doué show saw PSG beat 10-men Monaco in first-leg

A catastrophic start for Paris who were caught sleeping at the back as Balogun opened the scored less than a minute into the game (1'). A profound lack of intensity from PSG players made it easy for the hosts as they easily cut through Paris' defence.

Once again, Balogun was easily found in-behind after a remarkable through ball from Akliouche and did not make any mistake as he put the ball at the back of the net to make it 2-0 for Monaco after 18 minutes. However, Wout Faes fouled Kvaratskhelia in the box shortly after but Vitinha saw his penalty saved by Kohn as he kept Monaco's two-goal cushion intact (22').

Désiré Doué who just replaced an injured Ousmane Dembélé after 27 minutes has had an instant impact on the game as he scored to cut Paris' deficit, keeping their hopes of a comeback alive in this game (29').

Doué was once again at the origin of PSG's equaliser. His great ended with a long range effort and Hakimi perfectly followed the rebound to beat Kohn from close range (41'). The end of the first half was completely dominated by PSG as they created several chances to take the lead.

At the beginning of the second half, Golovin was sent off after a VAR check following a nasty challenge on Vitinha (48'). After 20 minutes of intense domination, PSG completed their "Remontada" thanks to Doué's second goal of the night (67').

Up next, Paris will host bottom of the league FC Metz at the Parc des Princes on Saturday, February 21st on Matchday 23 of Ligue 1 McDonald's.