FEATURE | Three things we learned as PSG edge Bayern Munich in nine-goal thriller
FEATURE | Three things we learned as PSG edge Bayern Munich in nine-goal thriller Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich saw out a high-octane nine-goal thriller in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final (5-4). We pick out three things that were learned as PSG ensure that they head to Germany next week with a slender but potentially crucial advantage. A final ahead of time Last year’s UCL final was a game of contrast: young versus old, fluid versus constrained, liberated versus conservative.
This year’s final will perhaps resemble something similar in essence, with two interpretations of the game – or at least how best to win it – clashing. Atletico Madrid versus Arsenal is expected to be a tighter, cagey affair; both teams could, of course, subvert the narrative around them. But none look capable of putting on the show that PSG and Bayern Munich did at the Parc.
This was the Champions League final back in 2020, and it should have been this year. Instead, this was the final ahead of time between the two best teams in Europe, practicing an exhilarating, breathless form of football full of verve that only they have mastered. It is the first time in over 30 years that Bayern have conceded five goals in a UCL game and only the second time in their history.
It is also the first time that PSG have conceded four at home since 2006. For both sides, those are runs that you don’t want to end, normally synonymous with a nightmare evening. But this wasn’t the case for either side, even if there was a winner and a loser… or two: PSG and football.
More of the same next week, please. Kvaratskhelia – the new leader of the PSG attack? There is a Ballon d’Or winner in the PSG side, as the crowd at the Parc des Princes reminded us as he tucked home his second goal of the game, a dragged shot that flicked off the near post, the high point of Les Parisiens’ evening as they extended their lead to three goals (5-2).