Paris Saint-Germain scraped a hard fought win over AS Monaco on Tuesday evening. On the Mediterranean coast, top talent Désiré Doué took the Parisians by the hand after a dreadful start. It has earned him praise from his coach and in the French media.
Paris Saint-Germain survived a brutal opening spell and still walked away with a priceless 2-3 win away to AS Monaco on Tuesday night, a result that could prove decisive in the first leg of their Champions League play-off.
What looked, for a long stretch, like a night spiralling into disaster at Stade Louis-II ended with PSG celebrating a comeback that was as much about mentality as it was about quality.
According to L’Équipe, PSG spent almost 30 minutes in hell. Monaco came out flying, played with intensity, and punished every moment of Parisian hesitation. Folarin Balogun struck twice in that early wave, capitalising on a PSG side that looked rattled, disorganised, and unusually fragile. For PSG, it was the kind of start that can derail an entire European tie: conceding early, conceding again, and suddenly chasing the game in an atmosphere that feeds off any sign of weakness.
To make matters worse for the Parisians, the chaos was compounded by a missed penalty from Vitinha. In a match where PSG needed something to calm the storm and reassert control, the failure from the spot only deepened the sense that the evening was slipping away. Then came another blow: Ousmane Dembélé was forced off with an injury, removing one of PSG’s key attacking outlets at precisely the moment they needed pace, dribbling, and unpredictability to break Monaco’s rhythm.
And yet, this is where the story of the match changes, because PSG did not collapse. Instead, they found a way to reset emotionally and tactically, and the turning point arrived through the player who replaced Dembélé. Désiré Doué, initially left on the bench by Luis Enrique, came on in difficult circumstances and ended up becoming the catalyst for PSG’s revival. L’Équipe described him as PSG’s redder in nood, the emergency savior, and it is easy to see why: his entry gave PSG new energy, more bravery in possession, and a clearer threat between the lines.
Doué’s impact was not simply about one action. It was about altering the feel of the game. PSG began to move the ball faster, commit more bodies forward, and take control of key spaces that Monaco had dominated early on. Instead of playing like a team shocked by the occasion, PSG gradually started to play like a team that expects to solve problems, even in hostile territory. The first 25 minutes may have been among their most dreadful of the season, but the remainder showed why elite teams are defined by their responses, not their setbacks.
Luis Enrique’s reaction after the match underlined the significance of Doué’s performance. He was particularly pleased for the youngster, noting that in recent weeks many people had written him off. In the coach’s eyes, Doué is not just a promising talent, but an incredible, special player, part of a young core with ambition and top-level potential. Enrique’s satisfaction sounded personal as well as professional, because he framed the performance as something Doué had earned, not something that happened by chance.
The Spanish coach also used the post-match interviews to highlight what he valued most: the refusal to lose belief. He pointed to the cruel logic of Monaco’s early efficiency. The first attack led to a goal. The second time Monaco escaped PSG’s press, they scored again. In those moments, Enrique said, it becomes very easy for a team to lose confidence individually and collectively. PSG, however, managed to push through that emotional danger zone. He described the team mentality as sensational, and the word fits the narrative: the match demanded composure, resilience, and the ability to keep playing even when the scoreboard and the flow of the game were screaming that it was not going to be their night.
From PSG’s point of view, the 2-3 scoreline is valuable beyond the simple fact of winning. It changes the psychological balance of the tie, gives them an advantage heading into the return leg, and sends a message that even when the performance is messy, their ceiling is high enough to overturn serious damage. From Monaco’s perspective, it will feel like a missed opportunity. They had PSG on the ropes, they took a two-goal lead, and they were helped by the missed penalty and the injury disruption. But they could not land the decisive blow, and against a club of PSG’s calibre, that often comes back to haunt you.
One shadow over PSG’s victory is the condition of Dembélé. Luis Enrique could not offer many details immediately after the final whistle, explaining that medical tests on Wednesday would determine the severity of the issue. Until those results are known, PSG’s joy will be tempered by concern, because losing a player of Dembélé’s influence can shift the attacking dynamic for any major European fixture.
In the end, though, the headline remains the same: AS Monaco 2-3 Paris Saint-Germain. A night that began as a nightmare for PSG became a statement of survival and comeback, with Désiré Doué emerging as the unexpected figure who helped turn panic into control and disaster into a crucial away victory.
Updated: 11:30, 18 Feb 2026
