Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) claimed a breathless 5-4 victory over Bayern Munich in a historic Champions League semifinal first leg at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday, 28 April, the highest-scoring semifinal in the competition’s history and one of the most extraordinary European nights in living memory.
The defending champions led 5-2 before a relentless Bayern fightback reduced the deficit to one, setting up a mouth-watering second leg at the Allianz Arena on 6 May. The winner advances to the final in Budapest, where either Atletico Madrid or Arsenal await.
The match needed no time to find its rhythm. Luis Diaz, sharp and electric from the first whistle, drove into the PSG box and drew a foul from Willian Pacho in the 16th minute. Harry Kane stepped up and sent Matvey Safonov the wrong way from the spot, his 54th goal of the season and, as it would later emerge, a Champions League record-breaker for an Englishman, surpassing Steven Gerrard’s long-standing mark.
PSG responded almost immediately. Ousmane Dembele squandered a glorious one-on-one, shooting high and wide with only Neuer to beat, before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia made amends in the 24th minute, cutting inside Josip Stanisic from the left and curling a brilliant finish into the bottom corner.
The tie turned again moments later. Kane slid a wonderful pass through for Michael Olise, whose effort was saved by Safonov, before Joao Neves restored PSG’s lead in the 33rd minute, heading in from a Desire Doue corner after a breathless, end-to-end passage of play. Five goals in the opening 45 minutes set a new Champions League semifinal record for the most in a single first half, and the game was only getting started.
The final act of the half arrived in controversial fashion. Dembele’s corner struck the arm of Alphonso Davies, and after a lengthy pitch-side review, referee Sandro Scharer pointed to the spot despite furious protests from Bayern’s players and bench. Davies’ arm position appeared natural and instinctive, but the decision stood. Dembele drilled his penalty into the bottom corner, Neuer going the right way but unable to keep it out, to send PSG into the interval 3-2 ahead.
The second half began with Bayern pushing forward, but PSG struck twice in quick succession to kill the game, or so it seemed.
In the 56th minute, Achraf Hakimi found space after a Remo Laimer slip and threaded a pass through to Kvaratskhelia, who powered his second of the night into the net. Three minutes later, Doue exploited gaping holes in Bayern’s defence and slipped the ball to Dembele, who pulled a shot in off the near post with Neuer rooted to the spot. PSG were 5-2 up and apparently out of sight.
But Bayern are not a side that knows when they are beaten. Upamecano glanced a header from a Joshua Kimmich free kick into the net in the 65th minute to give his side a lifeline. Five minutes later, a sensational Kane pass split the PSG defence to release Diaz, who controlled brilliantly, swivelled, and fired home, a goal initially ruled out for offside before VAR intervened to confirm it. Bayern were back within one, and the Parc des Princes was suddenly, visibly nervous.
The Kane, Diaz and Olise front three reached a remarkable combined tally of 100 goals for the season with that strike, a number that speaks to the extraordinary attacking firepower Vincent Kompany has assembled in Munich.
PSG clung on through a frantic closing period that included a Vitinha shot rattling the outside of the post, a Kimmich header clawed away by Safonov, and an Iker Pacho clearance off the line in stoppage time. Hakimi went down clutching his hamstring late on, a concern for PSG and with the World Cup on the horizon for Morocco too, but PSG held firm for a priceless one-goal advantage.
While Dembele was central to much of PSG’s best work and Kvaratskhelia was exceptional throughout, involved in 20 Champions League goals in just 23 appearances since joining from Napoli, it was Kane who provided one of the night’s most significant individual footnotes.
His penalty in the 17th minute moved him past Steven Gerrard’s record for the most Champions League goals by an English player, a milestone achieved even in a night that ultimately ended in defeat for the Bayern captain.
The second leg takes place on 6 May at the Allianz Arena. Kompany was suspended and unable to take his place in the dugout at Parc des Princes, with assistant Aaron Danks standing in, but the Bayern manager will return for the second leg as his side chase a historic treble. They have already secured a record-extending 35th Bundesliga title and reached the German Cup final, and their league campaign has been without defeat since 24 January.
PSG, two-time finalists and reigning European champions, are appearing in their third consecutive semifinal. They will carry a one-goal advantage to Bavaria, but on this evidence, anything can happen.
The winner meets either Atletico Madrid or Arsenal in Budapest.
