Defending champs Paris Saint-Germain trailed early, led by three goals and ultimately held on for a pulsating 5-4 win over Bayern Munich in the highest-scoring semi-final in Champions League history. And there`s still next week’s second leg to come.
PSG built a 5-2 lead early in the second half thanks to two goals each from flying winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele at Parc des Princes.
“We deserved to win, we deserved to lose, we deserved to draw,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said.
Luis Enrique. Pic/AFP
“I just asked my staff how many goals they thought we would need next week and we all think we will need to score at least three,” added the Spaniard.
“It was an exceptional match, I have never experienced a match of such intensity as a coach. I’ve never seen a rhythm like that, it was incredible, you must congratulate the players.”
Down by three goals, Bayern fought back brilliantly. Defender Dayot Upamecano’s header midway through the second half from Joshua Kimmich’s free kick gave Bayern hope and Luis Diaz’s stinging strike made it a one-goal deficit heading into next Wednesday`s return leg in Munich.
“I think something special can happen at home, there will be 75,000 people, it will be a hell of an atmosphere,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said. “The Allianz Arena is a mythical area where Bayern has enjoyed much success.”
Rather than scale back and defend more, Kompany said he was ready to take even more risks.
“There is no middle ground,” he said.
“We will look to give everything, everything we have. We’re waiting for them, we want this.”
Kompany was suspended and watched from the stands, so assistant Aaron Danks took over on the touchline as Bayern lost for the first time in any competition since Jan 24.
Harry Kane’s penalty gave Bayern the lead in the 17th minute and Kvaratskhelia equalized soon after for PSG. Joao Neves — who is 5-foot-7 — then headed PSG ahead from a corner.
A dramatic first half saw Michael Olise equalise for Bayern after bursting into the area before Swiss referee Sandro Scharer awarded a penalty for PSG when a video review spotted a handball from Canada defender Alphonso Davies.
Davies turned his body to Dembele`s right-wing cross but the ball bounced off his hip and hit his arm. “The rules about handball change every week. The ball hits the body then the hand and you give a penalty, I don`t agree,” Kompany said.
1No. of instances where a team has scored 40 goals in a UCL season — PSG have scored 43, while Bayern have netted 42 this season
2No. of times both teams have scored four goals in a Champions League knockout stage match, after Chelsea and Liverpool’s 4-4 quarter-final draw in 2008
9No. of goals scored in the match between PSG and Bayern Munich — the highest in a Champions League semi-final and second highest in a knockout stage match, behind Bayern’s 8-2 demolition of Barcelona in 2020
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