Bayern Munich 1-1 PSG [5-6 agg]: Dembélé confirms Parisian progression to Champions League final
Bayern Munich 1-1 PSG [5-6 agg]: Dembélé confirms Parisian progression to Champions League final Paris Saint-Germain will face Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League final after claiming a 5-6 aggregate win against Bayern Munich. Ousmane Dembélé’s netted early, and although Luis Enrique’s men had plenty of opportunities to snag a more comfortable scoreline, they were unable to extend their lead. Bayern Munich were left aggrieved by refereeing decisions throughout the first half, with a little-known handball law proving to be the focal point of their frustrations.
Harry Kane netted the equaliser on the night deep in stoppage time, but Vincent Kompany’s men could not find the second goal they needed to force extra time. PSG will look to defend their European crown in Budapest on May 30 against an Arsenal side that last reached the UEFA Champions League final in 2005/06. As it happened Given the frenetic nature of last week’s nine-goal thriller, this clash had a lot to live up to – and Paris Saint-Germain got off on the right foot with just three minutes on the clock when Fabián Ruiz sliced apart the Bayern Munich defence to tee up Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
His cross was met by Ousmane Dembélé, with the Frenchman having picked out space in the box to rifle home from 12 yards out and extend the visitors’ aggregate lead to two goals. But it wasn’t to be smooth sailing for Luis Enrique’s men, who would have to tread carefully defensively for the majority of the match after Nuno Mendes picked up the first yellow card of the match after clipping Michael Olise with his studs. Chances fell for the hosts as the first half matured, with Harry Kane and Luis Diaz both seeing shots blocked, but it would be a spate of controversial refereeing decisions around the half-hour mark that would leave Vincent Kompany’s men truly incensed.
Nuno Mendes, having already been shown an early yellow card, narrowly avoided being sent for an early shower as he swatted away the ball. The referee opted to award PSG a free kick on that occasion, though, as it appeared that Konrad Laimer had handled the ball himself just seconds prior. But Bayern were further aggrieved just two minutes later when a Vitinha clearance inside the penalty area was smashed into the arm of his teammate, João Neves.
The hosts weren’t given anything, although on that occasion, the laws of the game make clear that it is not a handball if “hit on the hand/arm by the ball which has been played by a team-mate unless the ball goes directly into the opponents’ goal or the player scores immediately afterwards”. The first-half action wasn’t done there, either. Manuel Neuer was called upon to palm a João Neves header around the woodwork before Jamal Musiala’s low delivery at the other end put Matvey Safonov to work.
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