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'We never thought about elimination' - Neymar praises PSG's resilience in Champions League comeback against Atalanta
The Parisians always felt they could get themselves through to the semis despite trailing until the dying stages
Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar has revealed the team never considered the possibility of being eliminated from the Champions League as they completed a stunning comeback to keep their dream of winning the competition alive.
The Ligue 1 champions overcame Serie A underdogs Atalanta 2-1 in Lisbon to qualify for the semi-finals, despite trailing by a single goal in the match until the 90th minute.
Mario Pasalic had put the Italians ahead in the first half, but Marquinhos prodded home a fortuitous equaliser as the hame hit stoppage time before Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting became the hero three minutes later.
Neymar saluted his team-mates for their resilience in the contest and says there were no thoughts about going home from the competition.
"It's a great night but it was very difficult," Neymar told RMC Sport. "We knew that Atalanta were a great team, who played well all season and were the surprise team in this competition
"We never thought about elimination and we never thought of going home. No one is going to take my mind off the fact that I want to go to the final.
"They were aggressive and we knew they would rush us if we had chances. We are happy for what we achieved. We had a great game. We will have to rest because it was mentally exhausting.
"It was a great match, difficult, another awaits us. We will have to sort out some things to make another great match."
Ander Herrera, who was with Manchester United when they knocked PSG out of the Champions League last season, praised the role of Choupo-Moting in getting the Parisians through.
"Incredible. It's the whole team, everyone is there to help," he said to RMC Sport. "Choupo only played ten minutes and we can see what he brought as his contract is about to end.
"I played today but if I don't play the next game I will give it my all.
"We won four titles and if you are not a team you cannot make [this comeback].
"Atalanta didn't lose against the big guys in Italy but I think we played well, we did what we said. We created chances, we did everything to overthrow the game."
PSG now move into the semi-finals of the competition and will come up against either RB Leipzig or Atletico Madrid, who square off against each other on Thursday.
