Barney Ronay has filed his report, so I’ll leave you with that. Thanks for your company - goodnight!
I can’t stop thinking about the pace and intensity of that game. It’s so easy to get carried away in the moment but I’m honestly struggling to recall anything comparable, certainly not between two of Europe’s best teams. It was as if both teams had been told a bomb would go off if the match ever dropped below 50 miles an hour.
Bayern dominated all the statistics except the big one. PSG spent most of the game in their own third, but they were devastating on the counter-attack. When I say ‘they’, I really mean Kylian Mbappe: he scored twice, to go with a majestic hat-trick at Barcelona in the previous round, and gave Bayern’s defence the heebie-jeebies throughout.
In many ways Bayern played astonishingly well, particularly in the 32 minutes it took them to come from 2-0 down to equalise, and they’ll still fancy their chances in Paris next week. They won’t fancy another night of chasing Mbappe, mind.
Full time: Bayern Munich 2-3 Paris Saint-Germain
Next Tuesday, same time, don’t be late. That was a quite stunning game of football, played on fast-forward throughout. I don’t know about you but I need a lie down, and I’m neutral.
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90 min Rafinha replaces Neymar. There will be two added minutes.
89 min Choupo-Moting is booked for dissent after aggressively appealing for a penalty. A low cross from Muller definitely hit the hand of Herrera, but he slipped and the referee let him off because of that. Moments later, somebody flicks a header over the bar. I DON’T KNOW, OKAY.
88 min Alaba has a shot blocked by Herrera. The rebound goes to Coman, who forces Danilo to concede a corner. That leads to yet another blocked shot from a Bayern player.
87 min Coman’s cross is dummied neatly by Choupo-Moting and reaches Muller near the penalty spot. His shot on the turn hits his standing foot and spins just wide of goal. Navas had it covered and may even have got a touch, though a goalkick was given.
86 min: Just wide from Alaba! Sane’s short cross found Choupo-Moting with his back to goal, eight yards out and surrounded by PSG defenders. He laid it back to Alaba, whose low shot from the edge of the area went this far wide.
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85 min A poor clearance goes to Draxler, 25 yards from goal. He pushes the ball forward and smacks a shot miles over the bar.
85 min According to the Uefa site, Bayern have had 25 attempts (including blocked shots) to PSG’s five. And Kylian Mbappe couldn’t care less about such stats.
83 min For the first time all night, Bayern look slightly subdued in attack. If it stays like this, they’ll need to win 2-0 in Paris to go through (or 3-1, 4-3, 5-4, etc).
81 min A relatively quiet couple of minutes, in which the pace of the game dropped to merely breakneck.
78 min “Hi Rob,” says David Hindle. “Is it perhaps apt to point out that the ridiculously young, already World Cup-winning Mbappe is what a €150M forward actually looks like?”
77 min Navas makes another big save from Choupo-Moting, though he was miles offside and the flag went up afterwards.
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75 min I don’t know whether this is one of the all-time great Champions League games, because some of the defending has been pretty ropey, but I can’t remember seeing a game - certainly not between two teams of this stature - with such relentless pace and intensity.
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73 min Choupo-Moting breaks innto space down the right but picks up the wrong option. Then Bayern appeal unsuccessfully for a penalty when Danilo goes through Davies. We haven’t seen a replay yet beCAUSE THERE’S NO BLOODY TIME.
71 min Angel Di Maria is going to be replaced by Moise Kean. He is feeling his hamstring, though it looks more like a strain than a tear so he might be okay for the second leg.
70 min Choupo-Moting shoots straight at Navas, Kimmich is booked for dissent. I cannot keep up with this.
What a devastating counter-attack from PSG. They covered 50 yards in just two passes, first from Draxler and then from Di Maria towards Mbappe on the left. He was one-on-one with Boateng, who looked terrified as he backpedalled into the area. Mbappe shapes to shoot across goal before dragging a shot that goes through Boateng’s legs and beats the wrongfooted Neuer at the near post. That is a brilliant goal!
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GOAL! Bayern Munich 2-3 PSG (Mbappe 68)
Another twist in this sensational match!
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66 min There’s a second leg next Tuesday as well.
64 min Davies makes a vital interception to stop Mbappe’s pass putting Di Maria through on goal.
63 min An overhead kick from Muller goes well wide. The intensity of Bayern’s response to going 2-0 down has been awesome, and PSG simply cannot get out.
62 min Draxler is booked for flattening Pavard.
It was made by Kimmich, who curled in yet another wicked free-kick from the right. Muller found some space at the edge of the six-yard box - goodness knows how - and flicked a superb header across Navas.
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GOAL! Bayern 2-2 Paris Saint-Germain (Muller 60)
Bayern are level!
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60 min This is frickin sensational stuff.
58 min Kimmich plays a superb return pass to release Sane on the right side of the area. He decides not to shoot and instead slides a low cross that is desperately cleared. The ball eventually comes to Kimmich, 25 yards out, and he floats a chip that is easily saved by Navas. He was so confident, in fact, that he controlled the ball on his chest and then picked it up. PSG break and Neuer denies Mbappe in a one-on-one! The flag went up afterwards, but Neuer didn’t know that at the time.
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56 min Sane smashes over from the right side of the area. Bayern are having a shot on goal every minute at the moment.
56 min The next goal in this tie is of monstrous importance. This has been a helluva game.
55 min PSG are under so much pressure. Coman cuts inside from the left and hits a long-range shot that is comfortably saved by Navas. Just before that, Danilo produced a superb defensive header under extreme pressure from Choupo-Moting.
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53 min The resulting corner is only half cleared, and when the ball is dumped back into the area Pavard meets it with a low volley. Navas makes another decent save to his left.
53 min: Good save from Navas! Bayern work the ball superbly in a tight area to set up Alaba in the D. He sweeps a shot that is pushed behind by Navas, falling to his left. It was nowhere near the corner from Alaba.
52 min: Big save from Neuer! Mbappe nicked the ball off Sane just outside the area and went straight for goal. He was tackled but the loose ball was stolen by Neymar, who danced clear and lifted a close-range shot that was blocked by Neuer. The ball ran to Di Maria, whose low shot was kicked off the line by Davies!
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50 min A Bayern corner is cleared to the edge of the area, where Coman mistimes an attempted volley. It’s been all Bayern at the start of the second half.
48 min Coman’s angled cross from the left is this close to the head of Kimmich, who seemed to hang in the air for an age. I’m not entirely sure how PSG cleared it, but they did.
46 min Peep peep! Bayern begin the second half.
PSG have made a half-time substitution: the young Dutch left-back Mitchel Bakker is on for Abdou Diallo. That’s already the fourth substitution of the game.
“Hi there Rob,” says Francis Lee. “What law of physical chemistry explains how, while the snow is visibly slowing down the ball, the pace of play seem to have reached some new level of hyperacceleration?”
It’s the immutable law of the early goal.
Half time: Bayern 1-2 Paris Saint-Germain
That was 45 minutes of sheer, delightful football. Kylian Mbappe smashed PSG into an early lead, Marquinhos coolly made it 2-0 before going off injured, and then the former PSG player Eric Choupo-Moting got Bayern back into it with an emphatic header.
Bayern dominated possession and created most of the chances, but when PSG managed to break the press they were so menacing. Goodness knows what the final score will be, but I promise you one thing: this won’t finish 0-0.
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45 min Two minutes of added time, and Bayern are on the attack. Kimmich’s outswinging corner is headed towards goal by the backpedalling Muller, and Navas dances across his line to make a comfortable save.
44 min The corner leads to a brief game of head tennis until Kimpembe blooters the ball to safety.
44 min Another marvellous free-kick from Kimmich on the right is put behind by Danilo, an excellent piece of defending.
43 min In normal circumstances, with crowds at both games, Bayern would be in all sorts of bother here. But we know that home advantage is minimal at the moment, so they are still right in this tie. They have played brillantly for most of the first half.
42 min Another Bayern substitution: Jerome Boateng replaces Niklas Sule. He doesn’t look injured...
38 min Neuer comes out of his area and plays a very dodgy pass that just evades the wrongfooted Di Maria. Had the ball gone to Di Maria he’d have had a relatively easy finish from 40 yards, with Neuer miles out of his goal.
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The right-back Pavard flipped a nice cross into the middle, where the unmarked Choupo-Moting thumped a downward header into the corner. That was another very accomplished finish; Navas had no chance.
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GOAL! Bayern 1-2 Paris Saint-Germain (Choupo-Moting 37)
Bayern are back in it!
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35 min Hernandez is booked for blocking Dagba off the ball.
34 min Replays suggest Hernandez didn’t get the ball when he tackled Neymar a couple of minutes ago. That could have been a penalty, albeit a soft one.
33 min A Bayern substitution: Alphonso Davies is replacing Leon Goretzka. That must be an injury, surely. Davies has gone to left-back, with Hernandez moving to the centre of defence and Alaba into midfield.
32 min Neymar swaggers into the area and is about to shoot when Hernandez makes a vital tackle. This is glorious entertainment!
31 min Danilo has moved to centre-back, with Herrera replacing him in midfield.
30 min That was such an accomplished finish from Marquinhos - but it’s his last contribution tonight. He is leaving the field through injury, with Ander Herrera coming on to replace him. That’s such a big blow for PSG.
A PSG corner was half cleared to Neymar, 40 yards from goal. He curled the ball over the outrushing Bayern defence towards Marquinhos, who controlled the ball immaculately and guided it confidently past Neuer. He timed his run beautifully, and replays confirmed he was well onside.
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GOAL! Bayern 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain (Marquinhos 28)
Make that 2-0 down!
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27 min Kimmich’s wicked, deep corner is sliced wide at the far post by the stretching Choupo-Moting. That’s another decent opportunity for Bayern, who are playing sensationally. And are 1-0 down.
26 min Muller’s deep cross is missed by the leaping Dagba and reaches Coman, but his first touch is too heavy and that allows Dagba to clear. With a surer first touch he would have had a shot on goal.
24 min PSG are really struggling to get out at the moment. When they do, they look dangerous, but Bayern are pressing them relentlessly.
23 min “Every time I see a player laid down behind the wall in the draught-excluder style,” begins Luke Jones, “it makes me look forward to the first time a kicker smashes a hard, low shot directly at the prone defender.”
I’m sensing rancour.
21 min “Hi Rob,” says Peter Oh. “Hi Rob, I’m no weatherman but let me give this a shot: In Munich at the moment, we have a light dusting of snow followed by a burst of Mbappe. Storm clouds gathering on Flick’s brow but there is a decent chance of Sane breaking through within the next hour.”
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20 min Sane controls a crossfield pass on the right of the area and lays the ball back to Pavard, whose fierce drive is pushed round the near post by Navas. This has been a savage response to going behind from Bayern.
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19 min: Big save from Navas! Kimmich’s superb free-kick from the right was met by Goretzka, who powered a downward header towards goal from six yards. But it was too close to Navas, who was able to kick the ball away as he fell.
17 min “Neuer will be hurt by conceding a shot that was pretty much straight at him,” says Matt Dony. “But also, Mbappe’s shot hit him in the bare flesh of the inside of his thigh in the what looks like arctic conditions. He’ll be feeling that until half time! Who’d be a goalkeeper?”
At least they’re not using a Mitre Mouldmaster.
16 min A replay shows that Mbappe was approximately 0.00002cm offside in the build up to that disallowed goal. Crikey.
15 min Coman steals the ball in a dangerous area and wins a corner. Kimmich’s inswinger is headed away by Marquinhos.
15 min This is terrific stuff. Bayern have responded ferociously to going behind, and PSG look extremely menacing on the break.
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13 min Bayern appeal unsuccessfully for a penalty when the ball ricochets onto the hand of Danilo in the area. That would have been given in England in October.
NO GOAL! But that was another ominous break from PSG.
12 min: Draxler has a goal disallowed for offside! It was an emphatic finish, but the flag went up against Mbappe in the build up. This is very tight and will be checked by VAR.
10 min: Chance for Muller! Goretzka’s shot from the edge of the area is blocked, but he keeps the move alive and heads the rebound in behind a packed PSG defence. Muller gets to the ball first but pokes a tame volley straight at Navas from eight yards. Everyone assumed he was offside but I’m pretty sure the flag didn’t go up. I suspect Muller thought he was offside as well.
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9 min “Is it me or is there an increase in goals scored on the ‘near side’?” writes Gary Naylor. (He also sent this during Wolves v West Ham on Monday, but I missed it then.) “Goalkeepers seem to be set for the shot across the goal, probably because coaches have studied stats that show most shots go there. But if forwards sense a yard available via the shortest route to goal, they’ll take it and wither the stats then?”
8 min Kimmich’s free-kick hits the wall and Alaba slashes the rebound well wide from 20 yards.
6 min Gueye is penalised for handball on the edge of the D. That looked a bit harsh to me, but whatever. Kimmich is over the ball...
4 min Neuer will be unhappy with that. Mbappe’s shot was well struck but straight at him. He tried to save it as he fell to the right, but it went between his legs and into the net.
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Kylian Mbappe has blasted PSG into the lead. It was made by Neymar, who ran onto a good return ball from Di Maria and slid Mbappe through on goal in the inside-right channel. He smashed a low shot from 10 yards that went straight through Neuer and into the net.
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GOAL! Bayern 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain (Mbappe 3)
It’s there!
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2 min Hernandez forces an early save from Navas, who pushes a shot into the side netting. The resulting corner is headed on cleverly by Choupo-Moting at the near post, and the ball bounces off the top of the bar.
1 min PSG have started with Draxler on the left and Neymar as the No10, rather than the other way round. Bayern’s shape is as expected.
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1 min Peeeeep peeeeep! PSG, in their snazzy away kit, kick off from left to right. Bayern are in red.
The players of both sides embrace in the tunnel. It’s nice and warm in there, not so much outside: it’s still snowing.
Alternative entertainment
Scotland’s Home of the Year is on BBC Scotland at 8pm, if you prefer.
Team news
With Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry unavailable, Eric Choupo-Moting – who came on for PSG in last year’s final – starts up front for Bayern. It’s the same side that beat Leipzig in the Bundesliga at the weekend. And yes, they have named only seven of the 470 allotted substitutes.
PSG have made three changes to the team that lost to Lille on Saturday: Colin Dagba, Danilo and Julian Draxler replace Thilo Kehrer, the suspended Leandro Paredes and Moise Kean.
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1) Neuer; Pavard, Sule, Alaba, Hernandez; Kimmich, Goretzka; Sane, Muller, Coman; Choupo-Moting.
Substitutes: Nubel, Martinez, Boateng, Davies, Sarr, Nianzou, Musiala.
Paris Saint-Germain (4-2-3-1) Navas; Dagba, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Diallo; Gueye, Danilo; Di Maria, Neymar, Draxler; Mbappe.
Substitutes: Rico, Lettelier, Kehrer, Rafinha, Kean, Sarabia, Herrera, Bakker, Pembele, Gharbi, Nagera, Kamara.
Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain).
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Interesting... very interesting
Not really @ChampionsLeague quarterfinal weather, but we'll take it 🌨️ #MiaSanMia #FCBPSG #packmas pic.twitter.com/8aRxJAe2wR
— 🏆🏆🏆FC Bayern English🏆🏆🏆 (@FCBayernEN) April 7, 2021
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Pre-match reading
Preamble
Hello. Rematches are one of the best things in sport, a unique pot pourri of the past, present and future. They are mainly associated with individual sports – Gatti v Ward, McEnroe v Borg, Fischer v Spassky, Creed v Balboa – but can be just as mouth-watering when two teams are involved. We’re not talking about replays but rematches, where the finalists from the previous season meet again. One team has the chance to double down on their superiority; the other wants to enjoy bit of the old rewenge, while also eliminating one of the biggest obstacles to them winning the bloody thing this time round.
PSG left Lisbon with plenty of regrets after their 1-0 defeat to Bayern in last year’s Champions League final. It was a story of missed opportunities, unseized initiatives and unpunished high lines. Now they have another chance against a Bayern side who, though still the best team in Europe, are without the injured Robert Lewandowski for both legs of this quarter-final.
Mauricio Pochettino’s team are also missing a couple of key players: Leandro Paredes is suspended for the first leg and Marco Verratti has Covid. Nor are they in the greatest form. With seven games remaining in Ligue 1, PSG are three points behind the leaders Lille, who beat them at the weekend, and have somehow managed to lose eight of their 31 league games. I wouldn’t read too much into their domestic form, though, as we all know the Champions League is the one they really want - the one thing in football that money cannot necessarily buy.
And PSG have played well in Europe this season. They recovered from a poor start to win a very difficult group that included RB Leipzig and Manchester United, and their 5-2 aggregate win over Barcelona in the last 16 looks more impressive by the week.
Bayern are cruising towards the Bundesliga title, what with this being a year that ends in a number, and have picked up where they left off last year in the Champions League. Since the start of last season, their record in this competition is as terrifying as waking up next to Leatherface: P19 W18 D1 L0 F67 A16. That includes a 7-2 (S-E-V-E-N) win away to Spurs, then managed by Pochettino. But one of the few truly tough games in that time was the final against PSG, so Bayern know they are very dangerous opponents. Scanning a teamsheet that includes the names ‘Neymar’ and ‘Mbappe’ tends to destroy any nascent complacency.
When the draw was made, Real Madrid v Liverpool stood out for many, but that was largely for historical reasons. Right here, right now, this is the big one: the tie of the round, and a rematch to savour.
Kick off 9pm in Munich and Paris, 8pm in London and Orkney.
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