Report, reaction and analysis
Vincent Kompany’s reaction
I think we gave everything. It was a game of details. We’ve played five times against PSG in the last two years – we won two times, they won two times and tonight was a draw.
We have to look at some of the phases that were decided by the officials across the two games. It’s never an excuse, but it matters. If you look at both legs, probably too much went against us. But the guys gave everything. We tried against a fantastic PSG team.
If you look at both penalties [the one given against Alphonso Davies last week and the one not given against Joao Neves tonight] it’s ridiculous. A little bit of common sense… whatever needs to happen. It’s a one-goal game in the end.
Then there’s the [potential] second yellow card [for Nuno Mendes] in the first half. I thought he was giving it and I felt he pulled out because he realised he’d already given him a yellow and he didn’t want to send him off, so he turned it round and gave PSG a free-kick.
I thought we did extremely well at bringing the ball into dangerous areas, and they did extremely well at defending the key areas of the box. On crosses and cutbacks they defending really well. I thought we disrupted a lot of the pressing they do, but they’re a dangerous team and you can never completely put them out of the tie. It’s margins, it’s details. It’s two great teams. Congratulations to them, and good luck to them.
Bayern Munich are a great, great club, and even then they win the Champions League on average once every 10 years. That’s how difficult it is. I’m not in a mindframe where I question everything because we haven’t won it, but the desire is to push for that extra step.
It cannot always be a laugh a minute. Paris Saint-Germain will play Arsenal in the Champions League final and they made sure of that by getting serious, nullifying an off-key Bayern Munich and rarely wobbling after adding to their first-leg lead. Luis Enrique’s team should have won by more in a match that did not, and probably never could, hit the previous week’s heights but their triumph was underpinned by an aptitude for the dirtier work that would serve them well in Budapest.
Ousmane Dembélé’s emphatic third-minute finish seemed to have ended this semi-final’s goalfest and the regret for Vincent Kompany will be that Bayern were a yard short of their sharpest all night. It could have been different if one of their openings before the break, Jamal Musiala spurning the best, had gone in but Harry Kane’s added-time goal came far too late.
Bayern’s players look devastated as they walk round applauding the home fans. They have been brilliant all season – they’ve scored 175 goals FFS – and took PSG to the wire.
Now it’s Arsenal turn. PSG beat Arsenal 3-1 on aggregate in last season’s semi-final, but Arsenal played excellently in Paris and ran them very close. From memory Gianluigi Donnarumma made three world-class saves across the tie, so while PSG will rightly be favourites, Arsenal have more than a puncher’s chance.
Clear your diary for the evening of 30 May is what we’re saying.
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Luis Enrique breaks into a huge smile before embracing all his players. PSG were the better team tonight and deserve to win a wonderful semi-final. They played with the authority of champions, the joie de vivre of kids in the playground and the work ethic of blue-collar ants.
At times, particularly in their computerised passing and movement, it was hard to comprehend that a football team could be so good. And Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who made Ousmane Dembele’s early goal, was knee-tremblingly brilliant.
Yeah, I’m probably getting carried away. But if you don’t enjoy watching this PSG team, you’re clinically dead inside.
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Full time: Bayern Munich 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain (agg: 5-6)
And now only Arsenal can stop Paris Saint-Germain retaining the Champions League.
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90+6 min Marquinhos is down, ostensibly with cramp.
90+5 min Kane’s goal was Bayern’s 175th of the season. A 176th would bring the house down.
Bayern have 60 seconds to get another goal. Davies fed a short pass into Kane, who shifted the ball to the side of Pacho and rammed a brilliant left-foot shot into the roof of the net.
GOAL! Bayern 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain (Kane 90+4); agg: 5-6
Erm, hello!
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90+3 min Kvaratskhelia, who has been utterly magnificent, waits for Diaz to foul him from behind. The PSG bench all roar in celebration when the free-kick is awarded.
90+2 min Luis Diaz runs across the edge of the PSG area and tries a cute through pass to Karl. It’s cut out.
Apparently there have been nine more shots in this game than there were last week. Yeah, thanks lads.
90+1 min “Kvaratskhelia cavorts around the pitch,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “Or maybe he Kvorts. But whatever he does, it’s a lot of fun to watch. Arsenal beware.”
90 min Five minutes of added time. Bayern Munich need a hero, or a Joselu.
89 min Before tonight Bayern had scored 85 goals in 23 games this season, yet PSG have kept them at arm’s length all night. Of all their extraordinary qualities, the ability to control games away to high-class opposition stands out.
87 min Karl and then Laimer have shots blocked by PSG defenders. The latter led to an appeal for handball that was soon cleared by VAR.
PSG go down the other end and Neuer dives to his left to push away Barcola’s curler.
85 min: PSG substitution Senny Mayulu comes on for Nuno Mendes.
85 min: Bayern substitution Lennart Karl replaces Dayot Upamecano.
84 min The good news for Arsenal is that, as things stand, Harry Kane is not going to beat them in the Champions League final. The bad news is they’ll have to face the best club side since Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.
83 min Kvaratskhelia wins the ball in the centre circle and plays an early through pass to… what the hell is Nuno Mendes doing at centre-forward?! No matter: Mendes tries to chip Neuer from distance but gets it all wrong.
81 min “Well,” says James Humphries, “since it’s apparently not gonna be another nine-goal game, what do we all think the correct verb for Kvaratskhelia on the run is, then? I can see the appeal of ‘scurrying’, but I prefer ‘bustling’ myself. Seems heavier on the shoulder-work.”
I’m not sure about ‘bustling’. If nothing else, it makes him sound like a county seamer from the 1990s who bowled a heavy ball and once went on an England A tour.
79 min Out of nothing, Kvaratskhelia explodes into the Bayern area. But he’s too quick for his own good: he can’t get the ball out of his feet and mishits a close-range shot that is cleared by Kim.
79 min: Bayern substitution Jamal Musiala is replaced by Nicolas Jackson.
78 min Luis Diaz is booked for dissent. He fell on the ball and handled it just outside the PSG area, though Diaz thought he’d been fouled by a PSG player.
77 min: Double substitution for PSG Lucas Hernandez and Lucas Beraldo replace Fabian Ruiz and Desire Doue.
76 min Doue drags a shot from the edge of the D that goes just wide with Neuer motionless.
PSG are just too good; they should be illegal. If Arsenal win the Champions League by beating this lot, they deserve endless praise.
74 min “I’ve missed all the game due to woke tears moving on with my life after going out to half of this lot but haven’t seen Diaz mentioned,” says Ian Copestake. “Surely he’s going to have a say, no?”
There was a spell in the first half when I thought he had the beating of Zaire-Emery. Wrong!
73 min “I think I remember Scott doing a Joy of Six on smoking sports stars?” writes Simon McMahon. “Cruyff, Socrates, and golfer Lloyd Mangrum, all of whom I suspect could make vaping look cool if they were around today, spring to mind.”
Even by Scott’s standards, this piece is hilarious.
72 min Doue, 12 yards out to the left of centre, thrashes a shot into the side netting after another mesmeric run from Kvaratskhelia. He has redefined sexy football tonight.
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70 min Olise cuts inside from the right, beating Nuno Mendes in the process, only to sidefoot a shot straight at Safonov from the edge of the area.
69 min A sharp cross from the substitute Davies reaches Diaz 15 yards from goal. He stabs the ball up in the air and forces a volley that is pushed away by the diving Safonov. A relatively comfortable save, but a more promising move from Bayern.
68 min: Double substitution for Bayern Alphonso Davies and Kim Min-jae replace Josip Stanisic and Jonathan Tah.
66 min Kvaratskhelia clips a delicious pass over the top to release Nuno Mendes, who moves into the area but then slips as a Bayern defender comes across to challenge. Some of PSG’s passing and movement has been joyful.
65 min: PSG substitution Bradley Barcola replaces the goalscorer Ousmane Dembele.
64 min: Good save by Neuer! Doue picks the ball up in his own half, dribbles to within 25 yards of goal and hits an early shot across goal. Neuer dives low to his right to push it round the post; that’s another pretty good save.
63 min That effort from Stanisic is Bayern’s only shot on target since half-time. With the caveat that football is bonkers and things can change very quickly, Bayern are really struggling.
62 min A tame long-range shot from Stanisic is easily held by Safonov. Bayern have taken far too many low-percentage shots tonight.
61 min I said that Stanisic was booked in the 33rd minute. In fact it was Jonathan Tah who was shown a yellow card for dissent. So there.
60 min A decent spell of possession from Bayern. Eventually Musiala gets round the back on the right-hand side but is unable to keep the ball in play.
57 min That’s a better save from Neuer. Kvaratskhelia, on the edge of the area, sends Upamecano for a Five Guys with a lovely chop onto his left foot. The angle is tight but he sweeps a low shot that is kicked away at the near post by Neuer. Excellent reactions because the shot would have gone right in the far corner.
56 min Vitinha sweeps a crossfield pass to Doue on the right. He surges into the area, veers to the right and whacks a shot from a tight angle that is beaten away by Neuer. Comfortable save.
54 min Kane is fouled 30 yards from goal by Marquinhos. Bayern play the free-kick short and tee up Pavlovic, whose long-range shot goes high and wide.
It’s been a scruffy start to the second half.
52 min Kane has a shot from 15 yards that is blocked. Bayern don’t need to force this, not yet – they know from the bitter experience of their last Champions League semi-final that you can score two goals in no time.
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51 min Pacho goes down again, this time after being caught in the face by the arm of Laimer. The poor guy is turning into the Tom Reagan of this game.
49 min Pacho has a slight cut to the head but it’s been treated and he’s fine to continue.
48 min Pacho ducks into a bouncing ball at the same time Kane goes for it with his boot. The result is some accidental stud-on-noggin action and a break in play while Pacho receives treatment.
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47 min “As someone who feels they no longer understand the handball rule, I was pleased with that Ifab link,” says Jakob. “But if it isn’t handball if your team-mate kicks it at you, couldn’t you have some very creative set pieces? I’m still waiting for Nicolas Jover’s rugby lineout routine.”
46 min Peep peep! PSG get the second half under way.
“The best thing about Kvaratskhelia is that he doesn’t quite fit the stereotype of the modern elite athlete,” writes Ben Watson. “Slightly dishevelled and hunchy, but absolute dynamite. He’s obviously crazily fit, but has the air of someone who might like a ciggie at half time, and possibly a few brandies in the bar afterwards.”
Half-time reading
Half time: Bayern Munich 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain (agg: 4-6)
Jonathan Tah misses a good chance right at the end of the half, heading Kimmich’s long free-kick back across goal and wide of the far post. He was unmarked 10 yards out and might have done better.
Bayern have been playing catch-up since the third minute, when Ousmane Dembele finished off a brilliant move to double PSG’s aggregate lead. They had their best spell as half-time approached and will feel they are still in the tie. But they have to score the next goal.
45+2 min Kvaratskhelia is booked for kicking the ball away.
45 min Two minutes of added time.
44 min: Good save by Safonov!
Olise backheels the ball to Musiala, who turns and heads straight for goal. Kane creats some space with an off-the-ball run, allowing Musiala to reach the edge of the area before pinging a low left-foot shot that is pushed away by the diving Safonov.
A few seconds later, Musiala shoots over from the left side of the box. He has come to life and Bayern are having their best spell of the game.
42 min Thanks to Neil Walsh, who has confirmed that it’s not a handball offence is the ball is smashed at you by a teammate. Here’s the relevant Ifab link.
41 min Musiala, hitherto quiet, gets to the byline on the right and smashes a low cross that is beaten away at the near post by the diving Safonov. Good goalkeeping.
39 min “Whoever loses today is lucky,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “Imagine prevailing against a terrific opponent over two legs only to be beaten 1-0 by Arsenal in Budapest.”
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37 min After another devastating counter from PSG, Kvaratskhelia’s low ball into the six-yard area is crucially cut out, I think by Tah.
36 min I haven’t had chance to check the wording of the handball law to see if it explains why Joao Neves wasn’t penalised. Maybe it’s because the ball was hit by Vitinha so the handball didn’t impact a Bayern attack. Who knows.
34 min A lighter has been thrown onto the pitch, presumably at one of the officials. Neuer runs across to that part of the ground and asks the fans to stop.
33 min: Brilliant save by Neuer!
Manuel Neuer has kept Bayern in the tie. Vitinha curled a superb free-kick beyond the far post, where Joao Neves came round the back and headed firmly back across goal. The ball bounced up awkwardly and was fingertipped round the post by the diving Neuer.
33 min Stanisic is booked for a foul on Doue. Bayern are ticking.
32 min: No penalty! Blimey. Bayern are furious and you can understand why, especially after the penalty that was given against Alphonso Davies last week.
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31 min: Bayern penalty appeal! It’s all kicking off again. Vitinha’s smashed a clearance that hit the outstretched arm of his teammate Joao Neves, and this will surely be given by VAR.
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29 min Bayern want Nuno Mendes to be given a second yellow card for handball – but the referee gives a free-kick to PSG! The Bayern players and Vincent Kompany are fuming.
I’m not sure what the free-kick was given for, but sending off Mendes would have been harsh because he was barely a yard away from the ball when it was kicked against the top of his arm.
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27 min Olise runs at the backpedalling Nuno Mendes in the area, shifts the ball onto his left foot and whips a curling shot just over the bar. Good effort, the closest Bayern have come to scoring.
26 min Nuno Mendes needs treatment after a collision with Upamecano. Looks like he’s fine to continue.
24 min There’s a long way to go, and at least eight more goals to be scored, but right now PSG are controlling the game.
22 min Diaz twists Zaire-Emery inside out before smashing a shot over the bar from a tight angle. Zaire-Emery, filling in at right-back in the absence of Hakimi, is struggling against Diaz.
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21 min Doue beats three men before being fouled 30 yards from goal. The referee plays a good advantage, allowing Kvaratskhelia to zip infield and hit a shot from 20 yards that deflects through to Neuer. A comfortable save.
20 min Bayern haven’t found their usual attacking rhythm; everything feels a bit forced, even desperate. I suppose that’s inevitable when you’re two goals down to a team as good as PSG.
17 min PSG are so relaxed in possession, swanning around like it’s a pre-season friendly rather than a Champions League semi-final.
15 min Diaz beats Zaire-Emery on the left of the area and cuts the ball back towards Olise at the near post. His shot is smothered superbly by Nuno Mendes, PSG smuggle the ball away and Kvaratskhelia runs about 80 yards before having a shot deflected behind for a corner. He is an extraordinary footballer.
14 min “So good to see the Champions League final being played on a midweek evening,” writes Stephen Holliday. “Never felt quite right on a weekend…”
13 min Olise teases Mendes, gets to the byline and slides a cross that is turned behind by the stretching Mendes for … a goalkick. In defence of the referee, I thought it ricocheted back off Olise as well; it was only the slow-motion replay that suggested otherwise.
12 min Kane has a shot from the edge of the area that is blocked.
Incidentally, it’s pelting down in Munich. It might be raining on Bayern’s face if PSG get another.
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10 min “Neuer’s attempt at saving Dembélé’s (admittedly brilliant) shot was very awkward,” writes Kári Tulinius. “He looked like a middle-aged man whose back seized up reaching for a book from the top shelf.”
Middle-aged men should never reach for top-shelf literature.
8 min Olise is chopped down by Nuno Mendes, who is booked. The resulting free-kick is taken short and then overhit by Olise. Bayern haven’t settled yet.
5 min I’m still reeling from how good that goal was.
Kvaratskhelia, just inside his own half, flicked the ball round the corner to Fabian Ruiz and got on his bike. Fabian Ruiz guided a gorgeous first-time pass into the space on the left wing, knowing that Kvaratskhelia would be first to the ball. Kvaratkshelia galloped all the way into the area before picking out Dembele at the far post with a precise cutback. Dembele watched the ball onto his left foot, 15 yards out, and flashed a first-time shot into the roof of the net. It was in the centre of the goal but Neuer was beaten for pace. That is a quite devastating counter-attack from PSG.
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GOAL! Bayern 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain (Dembele 3); agg 4-6
Ousmane Dembele puts PSG ahead on the night with a brilliant goal!
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2 min Bayern have started with Konrad Laimer at right-back and Josip Stanisic on the left, not the other way round as advertised.
2 min Still goalless. I knew it’d be an anti-climax.
1 min Aaaaaaaaaaaaand action. Luis Diaz gets the match under way for Bayern, who are kicking from left to right as we watch.
On this day in 1998… Ronaldo demolished Lazio in the Uefa Cup final.
These are the gentlemen who are about to entertain us
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1) Neuer; Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Laimer; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Musiala, Diaz; Kane.
Subs: Ulreich, Urbig, Kim, Goretzka, Jackson, Davies, Bischof, Ito, Guerreiro, Karl.
Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3) Safonov; Zaire-Emery, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha, Neves; Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia.
Subs: Vignaud, Laurendon, Marin, Beraldo, Zabarnyi, Ramos, Lee, Hernandez, Mayulu, Fernandez, Barcola, Mbaye.
Referee Joao Pinheiro (Portugal)
“Hi Rob,” says Gary Stover. “Who do you see Arsenal lining up better against, Bayern or PSG?”
I was going to say Bayern, but then I remembered how well Arsenal played in Paris in the second leg of last year’s semi-final. So my considered answer is: dunno.
“I’m a little bored with the hyperbole over the first leg,” writes Jose Mou- Tim Smith. “It’s like regular football folk have lost the run of themselves. So, I predict a dull, cagey, 0-1 with a late goal. Of course, I’ll probably be proven wrong within five minutes of kick off.”
“Evening Rob,” begins Andy Gordon. “As Scott’s MBM last week gave us nine goals and all-time classic, if tonight doesn’t meet expectations do we email you with complaints/refund requests?”
They should be directed to the readers’ editor, but my email will be open when the tenth goal goes in.
It was a soundbite designed to go viral, the kind the ex-pros in the TV studios are always looking to confect; snappy, heavy on hyperbole, bang in the moment. Thierry Henry made it pop on Tuesday night as he interviewed Bukayo Saka on CBS Sports after Arsenal had beaten Atlético Madrid to advance to the Champions League final. “We were the Invincibles. You will be the Unforgettables,” Henry said.
There it was, as laid out by one of the greats, the goalscoring hero of Arsenal’s unbeaten bolt to the 2004 Premier League title, the last one they won.
Saka, who scored the winner in the second leg at a delirious Emirates Stadium, and his teammates can see the path to glory. Actually, it is more than that. It would be immortality. Because if they can hold off Manchester City to win the league and add the Champions League in Budapest on 30 May, it would top anything any group of Arsenal players has achieved.
“Please spare a thought for New York,” says Peter Oh, “the only city named in the classic tune Pop Muzik that’s not alive in the Champions League. (And no, they’re no longer in the Concacaf Champions Cup either. Sorry, Big Apple.)”
Why are you bringing Kajagoogoo into this?
Go on, treat yourself
The players are on a yellow card
None. Nada. Zilch. Bugger all. The only way to miss the final through suspension is to be sent off tonight.
Ousmane Dembélé grins when he says that, if he does not press, he will be benched by Luis Enrique. The Ballon d’Or winner does not do his defensive work under duress. Like the rest of his teammates, he seems to derive enjoyment from a part of the game that was once seen as unnatural. Attackers would attack and defenders would defend; simple rules for a simple game. But demands have changed.
The forward line of Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar was a mouthwatering prospect but they failed to take Paris Saint‑Germain close to a Champions League title and there was a lack of joy in their work. All attack and no defend made PSG a dull watch. There was a lesson in their failure: that football had changed and matches could not be won by the sheer weight of their attacking talent.
Team news
Both teams make one change from the first leg. Bayern prefer Konrad Laimer to Alphonso Davies at left-back, while PSG bring in Fabian Ruiz for the injured Achraf Hakimi. That probably means a switch to right-back for Warren Zaire-Emery.
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1) Neuer; Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Laimer; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Musiala, Diaz; Kane.
Subs: Ulreich, Urbig, Kim, Goretzka, Jackson, Davies, Bischof, Ito, Guerreiro, Karl.
Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3) Safonov; Zaire-Emery, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha, Neves; Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia.
Subs: Vignaud, Laurendon, Marin, Beraldo, Zabarnyi, Ramos, Lee, Hernandez, Mayulu, Fernandez, Barcola, Mbaye.
Referee Joao Pinheiro (Portugal)
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In the novel Rabbit, Run, John Updike has one of his characters, a groovy and progressive 1960s priest, calling round to talk to his fellow minister, a hard German Lutheran, about the secret doubts he harbours about his faith. Is the doctrine really necessary? Is hell just, you know, a metaphor? He likes Jesus. But maybe he also likes sinful things, like sex and recklessly open attacking football.
The hard German Lutheran takes one look, curls his lip and tells the groovy progressive priest to get down on his knees in the kitchen and beg for forgiveness. Who is he to reason with divine suffering? Life is pain. Joy is pain. Pain is pain. Frankly, the groovy priest who likes flying full-backs and an open midfield disgusts him. He will burn in hell for his spineless debauchery. The groovy priest leaves in tears.
Cutting straight to the views of Clarence Seedorf on Amazon Prime after the 5-4 between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich on Tuesday night felt a bit like this. Seedorf is an excellent pundit, hugely informed and quietly twinkly, with the brow, the jaw and the eyes of some terrifyingly austere US president, all brackish integrity and ramrod restraint, but dressed in golf clothing and stood next to Wayne Rooney.
What Seedorf said about the virtues of structure, about entertainment versus restraint, was in many ways very Dutch, even perhaps quite Lutheran in tone. Yes, goals are good. Fun is fine. But football is also control and defence. Football is not conceding four goals at home. Arsenal and Atlético Madrid can study this, feed on it as a weakness to be gouged open. And good luck to them both with that.
Preamble
How do you follow the Lord Mayor’s Show? By doing it again a week later, doofus! Okay, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain may not share another nine goals in Munich, but it’s hard to see tonight’s match being anything other than a belter.
PSG, who lead 5-4 after last week’s pinnacle of art and culture, a re aiming to reach back-to-back Champions League finals for the first time. Bayern last reached a final in 2019-20, when they beat PSG 1-0 in Lisbon to win the competition for the sixth time.
That was a tense, cagey affair. Tonight should be tense too.
Kick off 8pm. Arsenal await the winners.
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