Luis Enrique and Paris Saint-Germain are headed back to the Champions League final after a 1-1 second-leg semifinal draw with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night.
PSG edged a thrilling 5-4 game in the first leg in Paris last week, and the defending champions made the advantage count to progress 6-5 on aggregate to set up a final in Budapest against Arsenal on May 30.
“It’s magnificent, two finals,” PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said after the game. “Now we will go there and try to fetch a second star. I said to the players we are warriors.”
PSG’s defense – breached four times in Paris last week – kept Bayern’s much vaunted attack of Harry Kane, Luis Díaz and Micheal Olise largely in check.
“We know how to suffer and we’re ready for what we have to face,” PSG midfielder João Neves said. “We’re very proud of how far we’ve come.”
Ousmane Dembélé blasted home a first-time finish to open the scoring, with the assist going to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia after a blistering run down the left flank and cutback pass to the France international.
Bayern were up in arms shortly after the 30-minute mark when the referee neglected to call handball on Nuno Mendes, who was already on a yellow card, and then waved off shouts for another possible handball on João Neves — this one coming in PSG’s own penalty area.
It did not appear the VAR was consulted on either decision, while replays showed that the referee had already blown his whistle for a handball on Bayern’s Konrad Laimer before the perceived Mendes infraction.
With the assist, Kvaratskhelia became the first player to score or assist in seven consecutive Champions League knockout stage games in a single season and drew level with Kylian Mbappé for the most goal contributions in the UCL season with 16 (10 goals, six assists).
Try as they might, the hosts could not find a way back into the game in the second half until Kane scored a late consolation goal just before the final whistle blew. Bayern had won five of their past seven meetings with PSG in Munich, and were going for a repeat of the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup treble they won in 2020 and 2013.
That bid ultimately came up one goal short, with PSG looking more likely to score than Bayern in the second 45 minutes.
“I understand if they’re disappointed,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany told TNT Sports when asked what he said afterwards to his players. “I think we gave everything.”
After the teams returned from the break, Manuel Neuer saved twice in quick succession from Désiré Doué and Kvaratskhelia. Doué tried again soon after with a low drive that brought the best stop yet from the Bayern goalkeeper.
The hosts came close again through Diaz, who was denied by Matvei Safonov, but PSG were carrying the greater threat. Doué blasted an effort inches wide of the post with Neuer beaten as the European champions looked to seal it.
Kvaratskhelia brushed past Bayern’s defence and bore down on goal but badly missed his kick, with the goal and tie at his mercy.
England captain Kane finally found space inside the box to lash a finish into the roof of the net deep in stoppage time, but a famous fightback was not to be.
PSG and Bayern came into the second leg as the top-scoring sides in the competition with 43 and 42 goals, respectively. It’s the first time two teams have scored more than 40 in the same season — with the expanded League Phase format playing a role.
“It was a game of details. I think we’ve played five times against PSG in the last two years and we’ve won two times, they’ve won two times and now was a draw, so it’s just been that kind of game every single time,” Kompany added. “We have to look at some of the phases that were decided by the officials across the two games which.
“It’s never an excuse for everything, but it matters.”
Arsenal sealed their spot in the final on Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Atlético Madrid to advance 2-1 on aggregate over Diego Simeone’s side.
PSG will try to become only the second team to repeat as Champions League winners, with Real Madrid having done so twice by winning the competition three times in a row between 2016 and 2018. (ESPN)
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