analysis
FC Bayern failed in the Champions League semi-finals against defending champions Paris Saint-Germain – there were other reasons for this besides Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
A scene in the 93rd minute of this energy- and nerve-wracking game in Munich said a lot about the decisive factors. Kvaratskhelia, PSG’s superstar and perhaps the world’s best footballer at the moment, who was also the standout player in the 1-1 draw in the second leg, won a duel deep in his own half. In doing so, he robbed Bayern of valuable time to perhaps bring about a turnaround.
Collective cheers for one Defensive tackle
The players who had already been replaced and the reserves cheered as if they had just won the title on May 30th in Budapest: Désiré Doué, Ousmane Dembéléé, Warren Zaïre-Emery, also the injured Ashraf Hakimi and the colleagues who had not yet been substituted – they celebrated Kvaratskhelia for his hard work, for his commitment to the team.
Of course, FC Bayern didn’t lack effort in both games; they tried everything and threw everything into it. But they didn’t have the collective that characterized the Paris team – in the era after all the individualists like Neymar, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and many other big egos.
That wasn’t enough: precision, switching, killer instinct
Bayern certainly didn’t have any luck with the referee that evening, but they also lacked other factors: precision, speed in the transition game, creating clear scoring chances, the “last punch”, as Konrad Laimer put it late in the evening.
Laimer had previously had good, but not decisive, scenes in the offensive game, but he made a serious wrong decision early on in defense: After two minutes, he opened his right wing without necessity through a wild forechecking that Dayot Upamecano behind him also failed to protect.
Michael Olise is annoyed
Kvaratskhelia broke through, played a one-two with Fabián Ruiz and fed Dembélé to make it 0-1. It was a scene that was reminiscent of the first leg: Josip Stanisic was overwhelmed against the magnificent Georgian and allowed him two goals in a 5-4 win.
Bayern full-backs are missing something – and where is Goretzka?
In addition to the significantly weaker defensive flanks, Bayern generally lack alternatives – Paris clearly had a stronger bench. Luis Enrique was able to bring in the French national players Bradley Barcola and Lucas Hernandez, and he didn’t even need Portugal’s World Cup striker Goncalo Ramos.
At Bayern, however, there was little impetus apart from Alphonso Davies. Lennart Karl is not yet fully fit again, but what is much more worrying with a view to the World Cup is that Vincent Kompany found no use for Leon Goretzka in this close game. The coach preferred to miss his fifth substitution option rather than even substitute one of national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s hopes.
Pavlovic has to take the next step
PSG proved in both games that it probably has the best central midfield in the world at the moment: Vitinha, Joao Neves, Fabián Ruiz dominated the action, while Aleksandar Pavlovic, alongside the hard-working but this time lackluster Joshua Kimmich, once again documented that he is still a long way from being considered “world-class”.
Munich’s Aleksandar Pavlovic reacts perplexed during the game against PSG
The second leg on Wednesday evening in particular made it clear that Bayern depend a lot on the individual talent of Michael Olise, Luis Diaz and Harry Kane. Since the Paris defense this time defended very effectively against all three until the penultimate minute, it was noticeable that there was no plan B in this case: the absence of Serge Gnabry was painful, and Jamal Musiala’s not yet 100% freshness after a long injury was also important.
