Anger at referees
©IMAGO
FC Bayern missed the Champions League final. After the 4:5 spectacle in France a week ago, Munich couldn’t get beyond a draw in the second leg against Paris Saint-Germain. The second semi-final duel ended 1:1 (0:1). The dream of a treble is over for Bayern, but PSG can successfully defend their title in the final on May 30th in Budapest. Then it’s all about the pot against Arsenal FC.
After a quick goal from world footballer Ousmane Dembélé after less than three minutes, the German champions were unable to force a turnaround against the defending champions. Harry Kane’s very late goal (90th + 4 minutes) was no longer enough for extra time.
It wasn’t the evening for coach Vincent Kompany’s team and his ensemble. The Paris collective pulled the plug on the Munich goal machine around Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Díaz. They never came as close to the final as they did in the turbulent first leg.
Cup final in Berlin as the second and last chance for the title
The only consolation prize left for Munich is the prospect of a double in the DFB Cup final on May 23rd in Berlin against VfB Stuttgart.
This time it wasn’t a wild exchange of blows without any tactical constraints in front of 75,000 loud spectators. But a test of strength in which France’s top club also showed world-class defense.
Rather, captain Manuel Neuer, who was in World Cup form in front of national coach Julian Nagelsmann, had to keep his Bayern in the game. After the break, the 40-year-old prevented the PSG striker Desiré Doué (56th/64th) and the brilliant Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (57th) from falling behind several times.
PSG is celebrating again in Munich
No matter how loudly the Bayern fans cheered on their team, it was another great evening for Paris Saint-Germain and coach Luis Enrique in Munich – a year after the triumphant 5-0 win in the final against Inter Milan.
When the teams were warming up three quarters of an hour before kick-off, loud shouts of “Let’s Bayern fight and win” echoed from the south curve, where the jumping Munich fans formed a red wall.
Was Vincent Kompany, who was able to be close to the team in the stadium again after his suspension for the first leg, still thinking about the “last sentence” he wanted to say in the dressing room in order to get “the last percent” of motivation and dedication out of his players?
The message from the supporters at the choreo before kick-off was clear on a banner: “Shoot us into the final!” But before Kane and colleagues fired the first shot at the PSG goal, the ball was in goalkeeper Neuer’s box. A simple one-two between Kvaratskhelia and Fabián Ruiz opened up a lot of space for the Georgian striker.
False start like in the Real home game
Kvaratskhelia served the ex-Dortmunder Dembélé with great clarity, who finished unstoppable for Neuer. Already in the first leg, the elemental force Kvaratskhelia and the world footballer Dembélé had become Bayern’s nightmare as double goalscorers. So it got off to a bitter start for Bayern, just like in the quarter-finals against Real Madrid, when it was 0-1 after half a minute after a blatant Neuer mistake.
The difference: Back then, Munich had won the first leg in Madrid. Now they were two goals behind on aggregate. The roles were thus distributed. The ball belonged to Bayern and Paris could rely entirely on transitions. Kompany’s team – this time with Konrad Laimer instead of Alphonso Davies in the starting line-up – had to sink their teeth into the game.
Great excitement at hand scene
Kane was the front-line foreman, Díaz and Olise the dynamic soloists who were most likely to threaten the PSG goal. A hand scene caused a lot of excitement. PSG strategist Vitinha cleared in his own penalty area – and the ball hit João Neves’ spread arm. And what did referee João Pinheiro decide? No penalty! The Munich professionals protested on the pitch, the fans whistled loudly.
Shortly afterwards, Neuer used a reflex to prevent the score from making it 0-2 with a header from the little Portuguese João Neves, who had already scored with his head in Paris (33′). The last actions before the break belonged to Jamal Musiala, who was completely beside himself until then. Heel Olise, shot Musiala – goalkeeper Matvey Safonov dived and with a reflex prevented the 1-1 (44th).
Then there was a break. Time to realign. But what options did Kompany have in terms of personnel? The injured national striker Serge Gnabry would have been golden for a successful comeback. Keep running. Nothing more remained. Try everything.
Nothing more was possible against an opponent who acted much more controlled than in the wild first leg, when the Parisians almost completely gave up a 5-2 lead in their euphoria. Repetition? No. Bayern desperately looked for solutions, but found them too late with Kane’s 1-1 draw. What remained after the final whistle was frustration, anger – and great emptiness.
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