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Paris St-Germain edged out Bayern Munich in a thrilling nine-goal classic at the Parc des Princes to take a narrow advantage in their Champions League semi-final first leg.
Five goals flew in during a breathless first half, before the holders Paris Saint-Germain surged into a commanding three-goal lead early in the second period. But Bayern, already crowned Bundesliga champions and hunting a Treble, battled back to reduce the deficit to one, setting up a tantalising second leg in Munich.
As the two highest-scoring sides in this season’s competition, both teams delivered a spectacular show of attacking football, thrilling a raucous Parisian crowd.
According to BBC Sports, PSG fell behind when Harry Kane converted a penalty won by Luis Díaz, who was brought down by William Pacho. The hosts responded swiftly: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia cut in from the left to curl a superb shot into the far corner, before João Neves glanced in a header to give PSG the lead.
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But Michael Olise produced a moment of brilliance, slaloming through defenders and smashing the ball beyond Matvey Safonov to haul Bayern level again.
Deep into first-half stoppage time, controversy struck. Referee Sandro Schärer awarded PSG a penalty after a VAR review, judging that Alphonso Davies had handled the ball—despite it deflecting off his leg first. Ousmane Dembélécalmly dispatched the spot-kick to restore the hosts’ advantage.
After the interval, PSG tightened their grip. Kvaratskhelia struck again from Achraf Hakimi’s dangerous delivery, before Dembélé hammered in at the near post to make it 5–2.
Dayot Upamecano flicked in a quick response that appeared only a consolation, but Diaz later finished smartly into the far corner from a superb Kane assist to keep Bayern firmly alive in the tie heading into the return leg on Wednesday, 6 May.
The winners will meet either Arsenal or Atlético Madrid, who face off in the other semi-final, in the Champions League final in Budapest.
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