Paris Saint-Germain retaliated against Bayern Munich by knocking out the 2020 UEFA Champions League winners in a rematch from last season’s final.
PSG had a 3-2 lead in the second leg and it was those three away goals that saw the French champions advance to the second semifinal of the UCL in a row, taking Bayern’s 1-0 victory on Tuesday in Paris to a 3- 3 was totally nullified.
In the first 10 minutes, PSG showed that it wouldn’t just sit back and defend the one-goal lead. As fireworks went off outside the Parc des Princes, Kylian Mbappé showed plenty of spark against Bayern, nearly scoring in the third minute before putting Neymar’s close, albeit offside, chance in front of goal.
With the French champions already missing Mauro Icardi’s key players and goalscorer Marquinhos in the first match, Ángel Di María limped after receiving a treatment on his leg in the 19th minute. The Argentinian, however, stayed on and immediately played a nicely chipped pass in the box for Neymar, who went wrong.
In the 26th minute, PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas nearly gave Bayern a lifeline when his erroneous throw finally created an excellent opportunity for Leroy Sané, whose curling from outside the box just missed the post.
It didn’t take long for PSG to have the best chance of the first half when Mbappé led a counterattack from the left, luring defenders before delivering a slow pass to wide-open Neymar. But Manuel Neuer felt the danger and came with a big save to keep the game scoreless after half an hour.
Neuer again denied Neymar after the Brazilian mesmerized Bayern’s defenders in the 34th with a series of moves, but his shot failed to squeeze past Neuer at the front post.
Then, in the 36th, Neymar pulled out a shot that defeated Neuer but hit the crossbar. The former Barcelona star continued to terrorize Bayern, but was unlucky again when he hit the post in the 39th.
As a substitute for the injured Robert Lewandowski, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored again against his former team to give Bayern the lead in the 40th minute. On a loose ball in front of goal, Choupo-Moting beat Presnel Kimpembe to get to Navas’ rebounded save and headed home to make it 3-3 in total.
Still needing a goal to advance thanks to PSG’s three away goals, Bayern flew out of the rest gates. David Alaba’s wide open volley from 20 meters in the 47th minute left PSG fans holding their breath as it rustled wide.
PSG had to fill in Abdou Diallo in the 59th minute due to an injury. Substitute was the Champions League rookie Mitchel Bakke, the 20-year-old former left back of Ajax who was tasked with limiting Thomas Müller and Leroy Sané.
Moise Kean came in for Julian Draxler in the 72nd minute and had a good chance five minutes later to even counterattack PSG, but he skied the attempt. Mbappé followed that opportunity with one of his own in the 79th, firing the ball into the back of the net for a very delayed offside call – certainly a result of the hasty offside call from the sidelines in the first half that the French star denied a refusal. run wide open to the goal.
Thomas Müller had the best chance of the second half for Bayern in the 86th minute on a scramble in the PSG box, but the German playmaker’s shot was deftly blocked by Kimpembe as Bayern pushed forward.
Navas seized Bayern’s last chance in the last minute of stoppage time, cutting off a Sané pass that buzzed across the penalty area before running off the clock as PSG advanced to goal-out.
These were the lineups for both teams:
PSG will play against Manchester City or Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final. Man City has a total lead of 2-1 on their way to Wednesday’s second leg in Germany.
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