After the Champions League exit
Bayern star Upamecano leaves the stadium with PSG stars
May 7, 2026 – 10:21 amReading time: 2 minutes
FC Bayern experienced a bitter exit in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain. After that, the rivalry was quickly forgotten.
This friendship also withstands the sporting rivalry: In the semi-finals of the Champions League, FC Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain fought a bitter exchange of blows – with two very different games.
While the first leg in Paris was a real goal festival, with Paris ultimately winning 5-4, the second leg was a restrained affair. A 1-1 draw in Munich was enough for last year’s title holders PSG to reach the final and thus have the chance to defend their title in a duel with Arsenal FC in Budapest.
No matter how bitter the sporting rivalry on the pitch and no matter how great the disappointment afterwards, a friendship that transcended team boundaries clearly could not shake the semi-final: that between Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano and PSG striker Ousmane Dembélé.
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Their positions require that the two often meet directly on the pitch and have to engage in one-on-one duels. It is therefore by no means an everyday occurrence that Upamecano and Dembélé were seen walking arm in arm through the interview area after the game and finally leaving the stadium together with Désiré Doué, where they chatted for a longer time away from the cameras.
It is no coincidence that the sporting enmity cannot harm the two, as they have been friends since childhood. Upamecano and Dembélé both come from the small French town of Évreux, attended the same school there and met on the soccer field as children.
From there, Upamecano went to the Red Bull empire, first to Salzburg, then to Leipzig and finally to FC Bayern. Dembélé made it into professional football in Rennes and, via stops in Dortmund and Barcelona, finally ended up in Paris, where he became a Ballon d’Or winner. In the French national team, the two are still allowed to play together for major titles, but at club level they have to fight sporting battles against each other. But even that can’t put a strain on their long friendship.
