Paris Saint-Germain have taken revenge on Bayern Munich, eliminating the 2020 UEFA Champions League winners in a rematch of last season’s final.
PSG won a 3-2 advantage in the second leg and it was those three away goals that saw the French champions advance to the second consecutive UCL semi-final, denying Bayern a 1-0 victory on Tuesday in Paris at 3- 3.
In the first 10 minutes, PSG showed that it will not just stay back and will defend its advantage with a single goal. As the fireworks went off outside the Princes’ Park, Kylian Mbappé sparked against Bayern, almost scoring in the third minute, before setting Neymar’s close, albeit offside, chance in front of goal.
As the French champions are already missing key players Mauro Icardi and first-round goal scorer Marquinhos, Ángel Di María continued to limp after receiving foot treatment in the 19th minute. However, the Argentine remained and played immediately. A pass to the side pulled the defense out of position which let Neymar slip through on goal.
In the 26th minute, PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas almost gave Bayern a lifeline when his wrong shot finally created an excellent chance for Leroy Sané, whose curling effort from outside the box went to a short gate distance.
It wasn’t long before PSG had the best chance of the first half, when Mbappé led a counterattack on the left, attracting defenders before hitting a slow pass to a wide open Neymar. But Manuel Neuer felt the danger and came up with a great save to keep the game unscored in the middle of the hour.
Neuer denied Neymar again after the Brazilian mesmerized the Bayern defenders in the 34th with a series of passes, but his shot could not pass over Neuer at the near goal.
Then, in the 36th, Neymar hit a shot that beat 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.
Completing the injured Robert Lewandowski, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored again against his former team to give Bayern the lead in the 40th minute. In a weak ball in front of the goal, Choupo-Moting defeated Presnel Kimpembe to gets to Navas’ recovered rescue and went home to make it 3-3 overall.
He still needs another goal to advance due to PSG’s three away goals, Bayern flew out of the gates at the break. David Alaba’s 20-meter opener in the 47th minute made PSG fans hold their breath as it closed.
PSG had to replace Abdou Diallo because of an injury in the 59th minute. Champions League debutant Mitchel Bakke, a 20-year-old former Ajax left-back, came on in charge of limiting Thomas Müller and Leroy Sané.
Moise Kean had a fantastic opportunity to put Julian Draxler up another goal 72 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. Mbappé pursued that chance with one of his 79th, throwing the ball to the back of the net before a very late offside call – certainly a result of the side referee’s hasty offside call in the first half which denied the French star a running wide open to the target.
Thomas Müller had a fantastic opportunity to put Bayern up another goal 86 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. Kimpembe’s shot went just wide.
Navas rushed at Bayern’s last chance in the final minute of stoppage time, interrupting a pass from Sané that rushed over the box before the end of the hour, with PSG advancing on away goals.
Here were the schedules for both teams:
PSG will play in the semifinals either Manchester City or Borussia Dortmund. Man City have a 2-1 lead in Wednesday’s second leg in Germany.
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