PSG hold Bayern Munich to secure Champions League final showdown with Arsenal
PS-GLEE: PSG's Ousmane Dembele celebrates after scoring. Pic: Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP.
The Allianz Arena hosted a Paris Saint-Germain party yet again.
In the same stadium where they thrashed Inter Milan to win their first Champions League title just under 12 months ago, Luis Enrique’s side moved to within one game of retaining the trophy.
And they did it just about as comfortably as could be expected for a team facing a noisy Munich crowd with a slender 5-4 first-leg lead.
PSG took the sting out of Bayern with an early goal, rode their luck by escaping unpunished following a couple of defensive mishaps, and then used their counter-attacking threat to keep their hosts at arm’s length. Bayern’s prolific front three hardly got a look in until Harry Kane lashed one in when it was too late.
We had to wait 17 minutes for a goal in last week’s astonishing first leg in Paris. This time, we only had to wait two and a half minutes. To no-one’s surprise, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was involved.
The Georgia winger exchanged passes with Fabian Ruiz and sprinted off down the left, with Konrad Laimer nowhere to be seen, and Dayot Upamecano trailing in his wake. Kvaratskhelia had time to look up and deliver a low cut-back that sat up perfectly for an unattended Ousmane Dembele to sweep high into the net.
Whenever Kvaratskhelia had the ball in the first half, Bayern’s supporters lived on their nerves. Laimer, at one stage, had to resort to yanking him back, and was perhaps fortunate to escape a booking.
But no-one was more fortunate on the disciplinary front than Nuno Mendes. PSG’s left-back, had a tough time of it against Michael Olise in the first leg, and his determination to avoid a repeat brought him an eighth-minute booking for catching the winger. It left Mendes walking a disciplinary tightrope, one he appeared to fall off just before the half-hour mark when he stuck out an arm to stop the ball as Laimer tried to whizz by him. Referee Joao Pinheiro had spotted another offence, and gave PSG a free-kick.
Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany, baffled by that decision, was incandescent a couple of minutes later, when PSG midfielder Vitinha’s attempted clearance from his own penalty area struck his team-mate Joao Neves on his outstretched arm. Referee Pinheiro knew what few others in the stadium did, that the handball law has an exception: If the ball hits you on the arm when it is struck at you unexpectedly by a team-mate, you should not be penalised.
PSG, perhaps, were lucky there, but they should have been two ahead soon afterwards. Vitinha’s beautifully flighted free-kick found Neves drifting in unmarked beyond the far post to direct a header back towards the far corner. Manuel Neuer proved that even at the age of 40, he can still produce world-class saves, stretching to his left to push the ball away.
The drama continued: Before PSG could take the corner, Neuer sprinted towards the Bayern fans behind the goal to tell them to stop throwing plastic cups on to the pitch. As that was going on, referee Pinheiro dashed to the touchline to get a replacement for his broken whistle.
Bayern began to rouse themselves as the half drew to a close: Jamal Musiala, played in by a fine Olise backheel, forced a save out of Matvey Safonov. With just about the last action of the half, PSG’s goalkeeper could only watch on as Jonathan Tah headed wide from Joshua Kimmich’s free-kick.
PSG’s threat on the counter-attack left Kompany with a serious problem as he sought to increase Bayern’s attacking threat. Twice in a minute early in the second half, Neuer saved Bayern as the visitors broke, pushing out Desire Doue’s shot, then blocking with his foot as Kvaratskhelia twisted past the panicking Upamecano.
The goalkeeper was Bayern’s best player in the second half, making another sharp stop to push away from Doue’s low shot.
Belatedly, Bayern started to carve out clearer chances. Safonov saved well from Luis Diaz’s shot, then got down to gather Olise’s shot on the run.
But it was Kvaratskhelia, the best player on the pitch, who had the best chance to score a second-half goal that would have made the final minutes a touch more comfortable for PSG. Forcing his way through the Bayern defence, he looked to have done the hardest part but scuffed his shot with only Neuer to beat. He might have regretted that had Kane struck earlier than the fourth minute of stoppage time with a fierce rising shot after taking on Alphonso Davies’ pass.
No goal on the night for the Georgian, then, but in the end it did not matter – perhaps he is saving one up for the meeting with Arsenal in Budapest on May 30.
Neuer 8; Laimer 5, Upamecano 5 (Karl 85), Tah 6 (Kim 68, 6), Stanisic 6 (Davies 67, 6); Kimmich 6, Pavlovic 5; Olise 5, Musiala 5 (Jackson 79, 6), Diaz 6; Kane 5.
Safonov 7; Zaire-Emery 7, Marquinhos 7, Pacho 7, Mendes 6 (Mayulu 85); Ruiz 7 (Beraldo 76, 7), Vitinha 8, Neves 7; Dembele 7 (Barcola 65, 7), Doue 7 (Hernandez 76, 7), Kvaratskhelia 9.
Joao Pinheiro (Portugal).
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