PSG needed a miracle, but it was only the snow: City advance to the Champions League finals

No Mbappe, no party. Manchester City advance to the Champions League finals after tonight's second-leg win over Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 (4-1 on aggregate). Withouth the help of a much-needed star Kylian Mbappe, who was sidelined for calf injury, the visitors just couldn't make a sufficient attacking effort which caused them the deserved UCL exit.

Mauricio Pochettino's squad was in a search for a miracle, but the only miracle at Etihad Stadium was that snow, falling persistently hours before the kick-off. Still, it didn't affect players, who displayed a masterful piece of football for the entire 90 minutes.

Both teams were furious coming from the starting blocks. The visitors forced Pep Guardiola's side to sit deep in its own box for the first five minutes, resulting in a penalty kick that was, however, cancelled deservedly after the VAR consultancy since Zinchenko touched the ball with his left shoulder and not with a hand, as it seemed at the first glimpse.

Soon after, it was already 1-0 for City on a scoreboard thanks to a lovely, simple attack that started from Ederson himself. City's keeper launched a 70-yard-long precise pass to Zinchenko, who crossed it immediately to De Bruyne in the middle of the area. His shot was blocked, but the ball came on a plate for Mahrez on the right flank, and he placed it low in the opposite corner.

Despite trailing 1-3 on aggregate at the moment, Les Parisiens showed no signs of surrender. Moreover, Marquinhos' header ended on a crossbar, while Di Maria's shot went only a few inches off the target. On the other end, the hosts were determined to kill the game before the half-time whistle. Mahrez was close to sealing the brace with a replica of the first goal, but Navas was there on the near post to deny it.

But what he pulled off in the first half, he failed in achieving in the second. It was the 66th minute, and another counter-attack straight out of a playbook - Zinchenko gave the ball to Foden, he exchanged passes with De Bruyne and delivered it swiftly to unplayable Mahrez on the far post for 2-0. It was all over at that moment, with Guardiola celebrating at the sideline his first UCL finals after precisely ten years.

All of PSG flaws were blatantly clear, with their players losing the plot and spending most of the time in arguments with opponents and the referee Bjorn Kuipers. Not even the avalanche of yellow cards couldn't stop them from focusing on the game, with Angel Di Maria paying the highest price, as he was given a red card for hitting Fernardinho in a nervous skirmish before one throw-in.

What followed was a pretty much one-sided game with a sign of a dead rubber written all over the place. Finally, it would be a huge mistake not to mention City's defender Ruben Dias, whose magnificent positioning and tackling would go in the UCL history as a second to none.

Guardiola's boys now can relax in front of a TV and see who will be their contender in that Champions League final, scheduled for 29 May in Istanbul. Chelsea or Real Madrid.