Nice knocks PSG out of French Cup on penalties

Havana, February 1 (RHC)-- Nice eliminated Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the round of 16 of the French Cup in a penalty shootout, so the tournament will have a new champion.

The Eagles' captain, the Brazilian Dante, took the seventh kick from 11 meters in Panenka style to beat the red-and-blue goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, and then the Polish goalkeeper Marcin Bulka saved the shot of the 18-year-old Xavi Simons, who perhaps could not cope with the pressure of the moment.

The 90 minutes ended 0-0 at the Parc des Princes, after an almost absolute domination of the home side, who looked without ideas or association on the pitch, with individual flashes of star player Lionel Messi, midfielders Marco Verratti and Julian Draxler and star player Kylian Mbappé after coming on as a substitute.

PSG were knocked out of the 105th edition of the Coupe de France, a knockout competition in which they were seeking their third consecutive crown and the 15th in their history.

Nice conceded in midfield and launched some dangerous counterattacks, a tactic that paid off in the end for coach Christophe Galtier, and his team completed the quarterfinals of the Cup with a 6-5 win.

Earlier, Olympique de Marseille, Nantes, Monaco, Versailles, Bastia, Amiens and Bergerac, the last four of which were youth teams, all advanced to the round of 16.