What a spectacle between PSG and Bayern: nine goals and endless emotions between escapes and comebacks

Football fans will find it hard to forget what happened on Tuesday evening at the Parc des Princes, in the first of the two Champions League semifinals: in a match of a thousand emotions, the host PSG beat Bayern Munich with an incredible 5-4, thus putting itself in an advantageous position ahead of the return match in Germany scheduled for May 6.

The Bavarians took the lead with a penalty kick awarded for a foul in the box by Pacho on Luis Diaz and scored by Harry Kane at 17′. The reaction of the Parisians was immediate, however, and in less than a quarter of an hour the result was overturned: on 24′ Kvaratskhelia equalized after a splendid personal cue, and on 33′ Joao Neves scored the 2-1 by mocking everyone with a header off a corner beaten by Doué.

At 41′ Bayern equalized, with an impregnable left-footer from Olise, but in the middle of the first half’s recovery, at 50′, Golden Ball winner Dembelé put Luis Enrique’s team back ahead on a penalty kick, after a very long review to assess Davies’ hand touch in the visiting team’s box.

In the early stages of the second half, PSG seemed to go on the run and close the accounts: in 56′ Kvaratskhelia made it a double, with a powerful conclusion on an assist from Hakimi; two minutes later Dembelé imitated him by making it 5-2, at the conclusion of a very fast restart by the Parisians. But the match was by no means over.

In the space of a few minutes, between 65′ and 68′, Bayern shortened the distance and reopened all talk: first Upamecano touched the ball on a free kick taken by Kimmich just enough to beat Safonov, then Luis Diaz brought the Bavarians back to -1 with a winning right-footer that, after an initial temporary cancellation for an alleged offside, was validated after review in the VAR Room. This will be the last goal of a match in which the defenses certainly did not show their best qualities, but the attacks put on a great show.