Bayern-PSG at very high tension: throwing of objects in Munich
High stakes, lots of tension and a few minutes of pure chaos during Bayern Munich-PSG. The first half of the Champions League return semifinal, after the spectacular 5-4 first leg in favor of the Parisians, experienced a few episodes destined to cause discussion. One of them starred Ousmane Dembele, author of the goal of the guest lead and victim of an unconscionable behavior by the Bavarian fans.
In the 34th minute, a few moments after a great save by Neuer on Joao Neves’ header, referee Joao Pinheiro obviously ordered a corner kick in favor of PSG. On the ball went Dembele himself, whom Bayern Munich fans pelted with throwing objects for a few seconds. The match director momentarily stopped play, with Neuer busy appeasing the people in the stands. The game then resumed after (relative) calm returned.
After PSG’s lead, signed on 3′ itself by Dembele on a great restart by Kvaratskhelia, the first half in Munich gave the home crowd several opportunities to protest with referee Pinheiro. Just before the half-hour mark, the Lusitanian whistle blew a foul on Nuno Mendes, who had blatantly deflected the ball with his arm, but without drawing a yellow card against the player who was already cautioned. Same decision a couple of minutes later for a further arm touch, this time by Joao Neves. The throwing of objects occurred just after these two controversial incidents.
The tension at the Allianz Arena was, moreover, in the air even before kickoff. About a thousand fans heading to the stadium had been forced off a subway train because of a fire start. Munich police had explained on X that the convoy had been evacuated at the Dietlindenstrasse station to allow firefighters to intervene, severely affecting traffic in the area. According to an initial reconstruction reported by Bild, the alarm was reportedly caused by an electronic cigarette, forcing the train to be withdrawn from service and causing the U6 line, one of the main connections to the Allianz Arena, to stop.
The context of the challenge was itself loaded with enormous expectations. Vincent Kompany’s Bayern were expected to overturn the first leg result to snatch a pass to the final in Budapest, with the Parisians instead able to afford even a draw to return to play for the final act of the Champions League. A mission made even more complicated for the Bavarians by the absence of Hakimi, one of PSG’s most dangerous men, who was stopped by an injury suffered in the very first leg at the Parc des Princes.
It is worth remembering what had happened on that memorable Parisian evening. It was the Bavarians who had taken the lead, with a penalty kick scored by Harry Kane at 17′. PSG’s reaction, however, had been immediate: Kvaratskhelia had equalized on 24′ with a splendid personal cue, then Joao Neves had signed the 2-1 header on a corner. After Olise’s momentary equalizer at 41′, Dembele had sealed the 3-2 on a penalty kick in the first half recovery. In the second half, PSG had seemed to close the score with goals from Kvaratskhelia and Dembele himself to make it 5-2, but Bayern had shortened it to 5-4 with goals from Upamecano and Luis Diaz, making the return to the Allianz Arena a very open challenge.
