European champions PSG came away with a narrow lead (5-4) from the duel of the titans against Bayern Munich at the Parc des Princes, with nine goals, a multitude of chances and an unrivaled intensity between the two teams in the best form in the final stretch of the season, just a step away from the Champions League final.
PSG and Bayern Munich lived up to expectations and signed one of the best duels of the year in which the Germans dominated the game but came up against the efficiency of the French, who nevertheless squandered a lead of up to three goals, leaving the final to be played next week at the Allianz Arena.
PSG wins but leaves doubts
PSG take a one-goal advantage, but also a sense of vulnerability that has long been lacking at the Parc des Princes and that could play in Bayern Munich’s favor in the return leg.
The level of the match was such that it is difficult to know how many teams can withstand such intensity.
And how many players reach the final stretch of the season at the level of Kvara Kvaratskhelia, Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembélé or Harry Kane.
It was also a tactical lesson for Luis Enrique, who saw his team navigate well against one of the few opponents who knew how to take the helm of the duel.
And Vincent Kompany, absent from the bench due to suspension, but who presented a courageous approach rarely seen at the Parc des Princes.
The result was a duel of many carats that led to the promise of another promising one next Wednesday in Bavaria on the way to a final that both deserve but only one will be able to dispute.
Crazy match in Paris
The Parc des Princes was immediately filled with vertigo.
Converted by the crowd’s uproar into a spectacle as few can sign at this time in the world.
Unaccustomed to seeing their team have neither the ball nor dominance, the public embraced the electricity of fast play.
Bayern Munich’s danger was counterbalanced by a PSG defense that had rarely been so shaky.
The exchange of blows was almost constant, without respite.
Total soccer in all corners of a ring that the Germans occupied better.
But in which the French found room to counter.
Kane opened the scoring in the 17th minute thanks to a penalty taken by Ecuador’s William Pacho on Colombia’s Luis Diaz after an extraordinary service by Michael Olise.
PSG reacts to chaos
PSG were almost in disarray when three minutes later another run from the young French starlet almost scored a second.
But after Dembélé dismally missed a one-on-one with Neuer, Kvaratskhelia averted the panic with a stratospheric move that left Stanisic seated and fooled the German keeper for the equalizer.
After another good move by Olise, who almost scored in his own goal after a Marquinhos clearance, it was Joao Neves’ turn to put his side ahead.
The diminutive Portuguese midfielder, the smallest player on the pitch, was aggrandized to head home a corner kick from Dembélé.
The Golden Ball was again ineffective in the 35th minute.
Seven minutes later Olise again exposed the defensive shortcomings of Luis Enrique’s team and with seeming ease he once again equalized.
Just when it looked as if PSG and Bayern would go in level at half-time, a handball by Davies, which was assessed by the VAR, allowed Dembélé to put the home side ahead again, from the penalty spot.
It was a demonstration of efficiency in the face of the opponent’s dominance.
Rain of goals keeps semifinal alive
PSG DT Luis Enrique’s corrections balanced the forces on the field and Bayern suffered more without control of the game.
Especially because Kvaratskhelia put the match on fire in the 56th minute, culminating a good Parisian combination that increased the lead.
The goal left the Germans shaken, and they seemed to have taken a knee when two minutes later Dembélé scored the fifth in the face of some defensive passivity, which turned the crowd into a party.
In less than ten minutes, PSG had unhinged a Bayern side that had pushed them to the limit.
But such a dynamite match was not going to be extinguished so soon.
Upamecano brushed home Kimmich’s free-kick in the 65th minute for Bayern’s third goal.
Three minutes later, Luis Díaz, after starting from the edge of the offside line, beat Safonov with a spectacular maneuver to reopen the tie.
Just when the pace seemed to settle down, Mayulu smashed a ball against Neuer’s crossbar.
And at the last gasp Pacho saved Kimmich’s header from under the sticks.
An unmatched intensity
QuéOnnda.com
Technical data
5 – Paris SG: Safonov; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Nuno Mendes (Lucas Hernandez, m.84); Zaïre-Emery (Fabian Ruiz, m.64), Vitinha, Joao Neves; Doué (Barcola, m.70), Dembélé, Kvaratskhelia (Mayulu, m.84).
4 – Bayern Munich: Neuer; Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Davies (Laimer, m.46); Kimmich, Pavlovic (Jackson, m.93); Olise, Musiala (Gorezka, m.79), Luis Diaz; Kane.
Goals: 0-1, m.17: Kane (p); 1-1, m.24: Kvaratskhelia; 2-1, m.33: Joao Neves; 2-2, m.41: Olise; 3-2, m.50+: Dembélé (p); 4-2, m.56: Kvaratskhelia; 5-2, m.58: Dembélé; 5-3, m.65: Upamecano; 5-4, m.68: Luis Díaz.
Referee: Sandro Schärer (SUI). Yellow cards for home team Marquinhos (12), Fabian Ruiz (77) and Hakimi (80).
Incidents: First leg match between PSG and Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals played at the Parc des Princes in Paris in front of some 47,000 spectators.
With information from EFE
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