Paris Saint-Germain left it late to score the winner against Atletico Madrid, winning their final International Champions Cup game 3-2 in Singapore.

The French club took the lead 32 minutes into the game, thanks to Christopher Nkunku who had applied the finishing touches to a deflected Layvin Kurzawa attempt, and they had then doubled their lead after the half-time break through Moussa Diaby when he had drilled the ball low into the net.

At that point, it had looked like a comfortable victory for Paris Saint Germain.

But Spanish side Atletico de Madrid clawed their way back into the game in the 75th minute, when Victor Mollejo headed a rebounded shot by Paris Saint Germain goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, into the net.

And the Europa League champions then drew level, when Antoine Bernede diverted a low cross into his own goal.

At that point, the fightback had looked to be complete, and it seemed as though the game was going to go to penalties, with the minutes ticking by quickly.

Paris Saint Germain had other ideas though. There was still time for one more twist. In the second minute of added time, Virgiliu Postolachi bent a left-footed curler beyond the reach of Antonio Adan into the net, to ensure that the French side will depart Singapore on a high note, despite not having many of their key players in the squad.

Thomas Tuchel is happy

And Thomas Tuchel, coach of Paris Saint Germain, is happy with the way that his youngsters had played. Said Tuchel, “Our biggest takeaway was the mentality to come back with so many young players on the pitch. The youngsters played an amazing second half with plenty of passion and intensity and they gave it everything they had. That is what we needed and we deserved this win. It was a good ending to our time in Singapore and we leave with a great feeling.”

Paris Saint Germain head to China

Paris Saint Germain will now head to China to prepare for the match against Monaco this coming Saturday, at the ShenZhen University Sports Center. 

But despite the high of snatching victory at the death in Singapore, Tuchel still remained cautious, as many of his players are not in tip-top form and he does not want to over-stretch anyone before the French Ligue One season begins next month.

He said, “We have two injured players and everyone else is tired from the World Cup. So we need to recover well. We can only make three changes in China, so we must be careful as to who starts the match because that means a lot of players must play the full 90-minutes. So we’ll need to see from training, who is fit and find a balance with that.”

Tuchel added, “The most important thing is to take care of the players. In China we will have to take part in a lot of activities and adapt to a new climate too, so choosing the team we are taking will require careful thought. We will be looking for players who are young, fit and can play with intensity.”

Neymar will be in China

But Tuchel did hint to the club’s Chinese fans that Brazilian superstar Neymar will be heading to China, though. Paris Saint Germain fans in Singapore had been thoroughly disappointed that the Brazilian did not make an appearance here.

Diego Simeone can draw positives from the match

And for Atletico de Madrid, accoridng to their coach Diego Simeone, they can draw some positives from the game, despite his side having lost the match at the death.

Said Simeone, “There were things about the game that were good and bad. The good is that we performed well and the bad was the lack of goals scored by us. It was a beautiful game and we were able to compete and gain plenty of experience from it.” 

He continued, “Though we played well, we did not take our moments but otherwise, we are happy. We had been going really well but we got tired towards the end of the match so Paris Saint Germain took the chance to snatch it.”

Unsurprised by Atletico Madrid’s Singaporean fanbase

And Simeone is also heartened, but unsurprised by the level of fan support of Atletico Madrid in Singapore. He said, “There are no surprises on our fanbase in Asia because this is the result of our hard work in spreading our brand out.” 

He added, “Right now we are happy to have been a part of the International Champions Cup and it has been great to join these pre-seasonal games against big clubs.”

Hopes to have his World Cup stars back

And when the new La Liga season resumes in August, Simeone hopes to have all of his World Cup stars back in action. Some of them were not able to make the trip to Singapore, because Simeone had wanted to give his stars a break after their participation in the World Cup.

Simeone said, “Some of our key players will join the squad on Sunday 5th August (against Stuttgart at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Germany) and then hopefully by August 15, all of our players would have come back to training, just in time for the new season.”