On a wet, slippery pitch in the red Allianz Arena in the north of Munich, it became a more classic European football battle. Theater was now not shunned. The demonstration of pure, attacking football that Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain gave in Paris last week slowly faded into the background.
The second game of the semi-finals of the Champions League remains a civilized 1-1 this time after the 5-4 for Paris Saint-Germain last week. PSG will play the Champions League final for the second year in a row: on May 30 in Budapest against Arsenal, which Atlético Madrid eliminated on Tuesday.
PSG can easily stay afloat in the stadium where Internazionale were blown away 5-0 in the final last year. That superior European campaign now gets this excellent sequel – Liverpool FC was already convincingly eliminated in the quarter-finals. The PSG of coach Luis Enrique is unmistakable ‘here to stay‘, after the Champions League was a torment for the ambitious top club for years.
They sense each other blindly
The performance against Bayern underlines how strong PSG’s foundation is. The game is so dynamic, fast and varied. They are almost unstoppable, as threatening as the attack is due to the constant position changes.
The midfield is technically very refined with Vitinha, Fabián Ruiz, João Neves and Warren Zaire-Emery. They sense each other blindly, or so it seems. This, in combination with the explosive dribbling and rushes of the attacking trio Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué, makes PSG virtually elusive. They all stayed, after last year’s Champions League title.
PSG’s Warren Zaire-Emery hits the ball, Bayern’s Luis Díaz looks on.
Photo AP
The attack after a few minutes is formidable, so smoothly and efficiently executed. Ruiz launches Kvaratskhelia on the left flank, after a quick combination. Luis Enrique shouts along the line for everyone to sprint. Kvaratskhelia advances, looks for the back line, sees that Zaire-Emery and Doué are flying towards the goal.
They are the lightning rods for Dembélé, who holds back for a while. The Bayern defense is rattling, the man coverage is disrupted. Kvaratskhelia sees Dembélé’s free space and passes at perfect speed. Dembélé shoots in high and hard with the left. 0-1 after two minutes and twenty seconds. A blow for Bayern, which now has to score at least twice. Although there is time.
Bayern storms forward
PSG does not necessarily have the most physical players, something that is increasingly emphasized in the leading Premier League. Bayern seems to want to make a difference in that aspect. At its own kick-off, it rushes forward from the halfway line with six players and tries to overpower PSG.
Bayern has a slight physical advantage, but lacks the finesse and cunning that it had last week. In the final phase of the attack they too often look restless and sloppy, including the fast, creative wingers Michael Olise and Luis Díaz.
Passionately cheered on by the supporters, Bayern chases a goal. Olise tries with a nice turning shot in the style of Arjen Robben, a spectator at his old club on Wednesday evening. But it is always not quite right for Bayern – sometimes a shot is blocked, then a header goes narrowly wide, other times the bet is too weak.
The Bayern crowd, including figureheads Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeness, is furious when a wild ball from Vitinha hits the arm of teammate Neves. A penalty is claimed. Just as there is a lot of misunderstanding among the Germans that PSG back Nuno Mendes does not receive his second yellow card for an alleged handball. Bayern coach Vincent Kompany jumps up on the sideline (both times the referee is right). It makes it clear that this fight is much sharper than the show last week.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany responds to a decision by the referee.
PHOTO AP
After that iconic match there was a countdown to part two – the reality is that this match was disappointing. The tension slowly dissipates; Bayern is unable to push through. Partly due to PSG’s stiff, compact defense.
They still have great opportunities, such as Neves’ header from a free kick by Vitinha. Manuel Neuer saves well with his left hand. After more than an hour, Luis Enrique can even afford to replace Dembélé, winner of the Golden Ball.
In the fourth minute of injury time, Bayern striker Harry Kane shot hard into the 1-1 with a left high shot into the corner. Far too late to do anything against PSG’s well-oiled machine.
