PSG begin decisive week with defeat to Marseille in French Cup

Paris Saint-Germain's miserable start to the year has continued when they were knocked out of the French Cup last 16 by bitter rivals Marseille

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Marseille, who had only beaten PSG twice since the capital side were taken over by Qatar Sport Investment in 2011, reached the quarter-finals on Wednesday thanks to an Alexis Sanchez penalty and a Ruslan Malinovskyi thunderbolt after Sergio Ramos's first-half equaliser.

PSG have now lost three times already in 2023 and the Cup defeat comes less than a week before they take on Bayern Munich in their Champions League last-16 first leg.

Without the injured Kylian Mbappe, who will also miss the Bayern clash, PSG struggled and according to captain Marquinhos, they will now need to "shut (their) mouth and work" to bounce back.

"They pressed high and we did not manage to break the lines. It hurts because it was a Cup game against our great rival," he added.

PSG have won the trophy a record 14 times while Marseille won the last of their 10 cups in 1989. PSG and Marseille are first and second, respectively, in the French league.

Marseille went ahead on 31 minutes when Sanchez converted a penalty after Cengiz Under had been brought down by Ramos, giving the hosts a deserved advantage after a lively start.

Spaniard Ramos, however, made up for his mistake as he headed home Neymar's corner two minutes into first-half added time, shortly after the Brazilian had hit the post.

The Stade Velodrome then came to the boil when Malinovskyi, who joined on loan from Atalanta last month, beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a vicious half-volley from just outside the box that went into the top corner.

Ramos had a goal disallowed for offside in added time in a nail-biting finale as Marseille defended tooth and nail.

"Amazing guys, they're champions. It's awesome for the club," Marseille coach Igor Tudor said.

Elsewhere, holders Nantes snatched a late equaliser to finish 1-1 against Angers before prevailing 4-2 in a penalty shootout.

Lyon wasted a two-goal lead but also advanced 4-2 on spot-kicks against top-tier rivals Lille after finishing 2-2.

Auxerre were beaten 3-2 at home by Ligue 2 side Rodez, who progressed after scoring with all three of their attempts on target.

Toulouse, Grenoble and FC Annecy also moved on.

The draw for the quarter-finals will be made on Thursday after the Lorient-Lens clash.