The Player Analyst

As hoped, the first half of this second leg picked up right where we left off last week. Inside 3 minutes, everyone’s favourite Georgian winger backheels it to Fabian Ruiz, who plays a gorgeous first time pass beyond Bayern’s defensive line. Kvara sprints into the space, picks up the ball and fires it low across the box to the Balon d’Or holder Ousmane Dembele, who launches it over Neuer into the roof of the net. PSG doubled their advantage early on, as Bayern now needed 2 goals to take this game to extra time. Musiala had a few chances squandered, Joao Neves had a set-piece header expertly saved, but Dembele’s strike remained the only goal of the first half.

Despite a much less open affair due to PSG’s healthy advantage, this semi final refused to fall short of expectations. The sheer speed at which this game was being played is phenomenal, so much so that you couldn’t imagine any other teams in the current European scene coping the same way. Yes there’s mistakes, positioning errors, and misplaced passes to point out, but each player seemed to have their energy levels doubled, meaning ground is being covered to rectify these mistakes like nothing seen before. The atmosphere is electric, and it’s clearly affecting every player on the field.

As the second half rolled around, the game layout was clear: PSG are not afraid to counter and kill off the tie, Bayern will work PSG left to right to try and craft and create. More efforts from Diaz, Olise and Musiala were blazing wide or sitting comfortably for Safonov. Doue and Kvaratskhelia looked ever-so threatening on the counter, picking the ball up deep and driving through bodies like it was a training match, but there was always one last defender to stop them, or a veteran German in goal to bail his team out. Neuer had an excellent game, as the visitors could have left Bayern in their dust much before they actually clinched the tie.

By the end of it all, Harry Kane netted a beauty as a conciliation. Joshua Kimmich drove the ball forward from the right hand side, laid it off to early-substitute Alphonso Davies, who knew all he had to do was pass it to the English striker to get an assist. A powerful strike past Safonov with his left foot gave the home side one last spark of hope. Unfortunately, it was all too late.

Respective shotmaps from Bayern Munich and PSG – Sofascore

Bayern’s 18 shots and 66% possession were not enough to trouble PSG into any mistakes, who ultimately deserved their place in the final in Budapest. The Germans can look ahead to their DFB-Pokal final fixture against Stuttgart, whilst The Parisians will be elated to have the chance to defend their UCL Championship, possibly becoming the first to do it since Real Madrid in 2017. Their opponents will be Arsenal, who look to win their first ever Champions League after beating Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid 2-1 across both legs of their semi final fixture.

Final note: That is one of the greatest dual-legs of football based on sheer quality of player performance, in Champions League history. Flying fullbacks, fluid midfielders, and attacking systems filled with the greatest dribblers on the world stage, all free to carry the ball as much as they please. Pure football.