French professional soccer player Lee Kang-in of Ligue 1 Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) will try to win a third consecutive UEFA Champions League (UCL) title after being knocked out of the competition.
PSG lost the second leg of the 2023-2024 UCL quarterfinal against Dortmund of the German professional soccer Bundesliga 0-1 at the Parc des Princes in Paris, France, on Aug. 8 (KST).
This was PSG's second loss in as many days, following a 0-1 defeat in the first leg on February 2, and they were eliminated from the semifinals on aggregate score of 0-2.
PSG, who won the 2023-2024 Ligue 1 and the 2023 Trophée des Champions (French Super Cup), had hoped to make it to the UCL but will have to wait until another time.
Lee Kang-woo also tasted the disappointment of missing out on the UCL final, which is considered a 'war of the stars'.
So far, only two Koreans have reached the UCL final: Park Ji-sung (retired) and Son Heung-min (Tottenham). Lee Kang-in, regarded as the present and future of Korean soccer, looked to continue the lineage but fell short.
After being benched in the first leg, 바카라사이트 Lee came on for Warren Zaire Emery in the 31st minute of the second leg and played about 14 minutes.
He became only the fifth South Korean player in history to play in a UCL semifinal, joining Lee Young-pyo (retired), Park Ji-sung, Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), but he was unable to prevent his team from being eliminated.
Lee will look to make it three in a row.
PSG will play Lyon in the final of the Coupe de France (French Cup) on June 26 at 4:00 am.
The Coupe de France is an FA Cup soccer competition in which all French professional clubs participate. It is similar to the Korea Cup in Korea.
With a win, PSG will win the triple crown. Lee Kang-in would also win three trophies in his first year at the club.
PSG is favored to win.
PSG have won both of their league meetings with Lyon this season, both by 4-1 scores.
Unlike PSG's title run, Lyon is currently struggling, sitting in seventh place in the league.
PSG is also the stronger team, and barring a major upset, PSG will finish the season with three titles.
There's also the matter of Lee Kang-in's 'beauty of the species'.
Lee joined PSG from Mallorca in the summer transfer window and has scored four goals and provided four assists in 32 appearances in all competitions this season.
While he hasn't been a regular starter due to a number of variables, including being called up for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2023 and injuries, he's been a consistent rotation player.
It will be interesting to see if Lee can finish his first season at PSG with double-digit offensive points (goals + assists) over the remainder of the schedule, surpassing the triple crown.