PSG beat Bayern 5-4 in record-setting CL semi-final first leg

PARIS (AP):

Titleholders Paris Saint-Germain trailed early, led by three goals and ultimately held on for a pulsating 5-4 win over Bayern Munich in the highest-scoring semi-final match in Champions League history yesterday.

And there is still next week’s second leg to come.

PSG built a 5-2 lead early in the second half thanks to two goals each from flying winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembélé at Parc des Princes.

“We deserved to win, we deserved to lose, we deserved to draw,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said. “It was an exceptional match. I have never experienced a match of such intensity as a coach. I have never seen a rhythm like that. It was incredible. You have to congratulate all the players.”

Down by three goals, Bayern fought back brilliantly.

Defender Dayot Upamecano’s header midway through the second half from Joshua Kimmich’s free kick gave Bayern hope, and Luis Díaz’s stinging strike made it a one-goal deficit heading into next Wednesday’s return leg in Munich.

“I think something special can happen at home. There will be 75,000 people. It will be a hell of an atmosphere,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said.

“The Allianz Arena is a mythical area where Bayern has enjoyed much success.”

Rather than scale back and defend more, Kompany said he was ready to take even more risks.

“There is no middle ground,” he said. “We will give everything, everything, everything we have. We’re waiting for them. We want this.”

Kompany was suspended and watched from the stands, so assistant Aaron Danks took over on the touchline as Bayern lost for the first time in any competition since January 24.

Harry Kane’s penalty gave Bayern the lead in the 17th minute, and Kvaratskhelia equalised soon after for PSG. Midfielder João Neves – who is 5-foot-7 – then headed PSG ahead from a corner.

A dramatic first half saw Michael Olise equalise for Bayern after bursting into the area before Swiss referee Sandro Schärer awarded a penalty for PSG when a video review spotted a handball from Canada defender Alphonso Davies.

PSG’s penalty was contested by Bayern’s players. Davies turned his body to Dembélé’s right-wing cross, but the ball bounced off his hip and hit his arm. Although Davies was turning away from play, he failed to keep his hands behind his back.

“The rules about handball change every week,” Kompany said. “The ball hits the body then the hand and you give a penalty. I don’t agree.”

Dembélé fired the penalty past Manuel Neuer – who guessed the right way – to send PSG ahead 3-2 at the break.

“Two great teams who attack and don’t question themselves,” Dembélé said. “It was an incredible match, but now we go to Munich to qualify. We won’t change our way of playing, and it will be two teams who attack.”

“It was a very, very intense game,” Bayern defender Jonathan Tah told Prime Video. “We showed what sort of a team we are, that we can cope with adversity and also with difficult refereeing decisions.”

Luis Enrique was exhausted just watching.

“I’m so tired, and I didn’t run a single kilometre,” he said. “So I don’t how the players are feeling.”

He does not expect any respite next week.

“I just asked my staff, ‘how many goals do you think we will need to win this match?’ They said ‘minimum three’. Bayern Munich in their stadium are even stronger, but we will try and show the same mentality.”

Spanish side Atlético Madrid host London club Arsenal on Wednesday in the other semi-final first leg. The final will be played in Budapest, Hungary, on May 30.