PSG hang on to oust holders Bayern from Champions League
Sports Desk, Apr 13 (EFE).- Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich ended the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal level at 3-3, but the French club advanced to the semifinals by virtue of their trio of away goals.
Playing without injured striker Robert Lewandowski, the holders faced an uphill battle against the team they beat in the 2020 final after losing the first leg 2-3 in Munich, yet they prevailed 0-1 in Paris and pressed until the final whistle for a goal to keep their title defense alive.
PSG’s failure to build a cushion was not due to a lack of chances.
Kylian Mbappe, author of two of the three goals in Munich, fired wide in the 3rd minute, six minutes before Neymar forced a stop from Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Joshua Kimmich missed on successive opportunities in the 26th minute.
Neymar looked set to give PSG a commanding advantage in the 28th minute, only for Neuer to produce another fine stop.
The Brazilian threatened again in the 37th minute, only to send his strike over the cross-bar.
With five minutes left in first-half regulation, PSG keeper Keylor Navas turned aside a shot from David Alaba, but Choupo-Moting controlled the rebound and hammered it in to make the aggregate score 3-3.
Navas thwarted Alaba again in the 44th minute and dealt comfortably with a poor effort from Leroy Sane right before the break.
Neymar put the ball over the cross-bar again early in the second half, a few minutes before Bayern’s Kingsley Coman did likewise at the other end.
Navas did well to stop Thomas Müller in the 62nd minute. A quarter-hour on, it was the turn of PSG’s Moise Kean to fire over the cross-bar.
Mbappe appeared to seal the triumph in the 78th minute, but the goal was disallowed for an offside, and the Bayern onslaught resumed with Sane, who didn’t miss by much, and Coman, whose shot was shunted behind by Angel Di Maria.
The last gasp for Bayern came in the 91st minute, when Coman headed wide. EFE lmpg/dr
