PSG 5-4 Bayern Munich: French giants edge pulsating NINE-GOAL thriller in one of the greatest European games of all time as stars shine on night of beautiful anarchy
What happens when one superclub collides with another? Anarchy. It’s beautiful, absurd, unbridled anarchy, and not only that, we’ll be watching it all again this time next week.
We wish good luck to Atletico Madrid and Arsenal who will overshadow this fantasy. Following this fruitful feast between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, which will be remembered as one of the best European matches of all time when we have a chance to catch our breath, is almost like the collision of a few atoms trying to eclipse the Big Bang.
Champions League semi-finals can be tricky. This first leg at the Parc des Princes was sensationally the opposite. It was football as a form of expression. Risk and reward. We score, you score, let the man who scores the most goals win, and let the defender be damned.
Bayern had Michael Olise playing his trademarks on the right side and Luis Diaz running towards defenders on the left side. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia shows why Georgia is the best for PSG and Desire Doue emulates at the other end. Then we had two forwards – Ousmane Dembele’s current Ballon d’Or winner and potentially his winner-in-waiting Harry Kane – scoring goals in the middle of it all.
It was refreshing to see such positivity in the play of both sides, passing less sideways for the sake of passing and scoring more goals with each kick of the ball. Although all the defensive players watching cried for their artistry, everyone else was grateful for their dedication to the offense.
PSG made it 3-2 (ensuring a lead they would eventually cling to) thanks to a controversial penalty awarded for handball by Alphonse Davies, whose only crime was having his left arm while blocking Dembele’s cross. As a writer friend of mine said, it was like a stain on the Mona Lisa; before that moment, this match was a masterpiece.
Ousmane Dembele scored twice as PSG defeated Bayern Munich in a nine-goal thriller played in Paris
Luis Diaz’s strike after a wonderful Harry Kane pass cut the lead to 5-4 in a night of beautiful anarchy
Bayern were bold in continuing to field players, as if they had forgotten that the second leg awaited them at the Allianz Arena. Kvaratskhelia and Dembele scored PSG’s fourth and fifth goals; Each one hit the suspended Vincent Kompany like a dagger, and Dayot Upamecano and Diaz scored the goals at 5-4 to complete the extraordinary night.
Bayern never gave up trying to score, even replacing a midfielder in Aleksandar Pavlovic with a striker in Nicolas Jackson in injury time.
Kane, who scored his 54th goal of the season for his club to end the chaos of the night, said: ‘You have seen two top-level teams. ‘We fought, we clawed and we came back to a draw.’
Winning the Champions League could be the Ballon d’Or moment Kane has been waiting for. Currently 32, he turns 33 in July and when Bayern offer him a new contract this summer, they may want to make sure there is a bumper bonus associated with that award.
But to win the Champions League, Bayern first needed to beat the might of PSG, and when Diaz appeared he was attacked by Willian Pacho. Referee Sandro Schare awarded the penalty, Kane stepped up and of course scored.
Kvaratskhelia’s equalizer was superb, having little space when marked by Josep Stanisic and still creating enough to curl into the corner.
For all his attacking talent, a corner from Dembele and a header from Joao Neves, the smallest player on the pitch, put PSG ahead 2-1. Then came another top-shelf goal as Olise broke through the Paris defense and edged Matvei Safonov, clocked at 57 mph, for 2-2.
PSG were awarded a penalty in stoppage time in the first half after Davies blocked Dembele’s cross with his arm. It was clear that the referees intervened without bothering to make their presence felt in such a gripping contest.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia showed his class once again with two goals in one of the best European matches of all time
PSG didn’t really care. Dembele’s penalty kick restored the lead as the defending champions looked to capitalize on Bayern’s attacking enthusiasm.
Kvaratskhelia and Dembele took them to five goals on the night, before Bayern got two more goals from Upamecano and Diaz. With the score at 5-4 either side can claim a place in the final against Atletico or Arsenal and potentially a place among the major European champions.
Anyway, is it the same again next week? Yes please. Best regards, neutrals.
