It was a game involving Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain that had a lot of expectations, damning consequences and reactionary outcomes depending on where the pendulum swung.
The encounter went down at the Allianz Arena and both sides went at it with their various aims in mind without throwing caution to the wind.
The formation of Bayern Munich and the starting line-up
Bayer Munich went into the encounter with a 4-2-3-1 formation and the players dressed for the encounter include; Yann Sommer in goal, Josip Stanisic in defence alongside Dayot Upamecano, Matthijs De Ligt and Alphonso Davies.
Julian Nagelsmann paired Leon Goretzka in defensive midfield alongside Joshua Kimmich, the midfielders ahead include Kingsley Coleman, Thomas Muller and Jamal Musiala.
The sole man upfront for the Bavarian side was Choupo-Moting.
PSG’s starting eleven
For Paris Saint-Germain, boss Christophe Galtier played a 3-5-2 formation with Gianluigi Donnaruma in defense and Danilo Perera, Sergio Ramos alongside Marquinhos shielding him in defense
Galtier lined-up Achraf Hakimi at right wing-back, Nino Mendes at left wing-back with Vitinha, Verratti and Ruiz all in midfield.
In attack, Kylian Mbappe was partnered by Argentine Lionel Messi.
Messi kicked things off from the centre circle for PSG and off-we-go as both sides certainly understood the assignment given to them.
The first big chance in the game fell to PSG as Bayern’s defense was wide open with Ruiz playing a delightful ball to Kylian Mbappe who was forced wide by the defenders trying to do the cover up. His resultant shot was tame and Yann Sommer did enough to gather for his side.
The game was keenly contested by both sides
Both sides went at each other for long spells in the game but they didn’t give much room from their opponent to exploit.
Another massive opportunity was seen in the 16th minute with Kimmich bringing his midfield partner, Goretzka into play with a pass, however his shot didn’t have enough venom to trouble Donnaruma in PSG’s goal.
Twenty-five minutes on the clock and Nino Mendes went forward with a lot of pace as he played a cut back to find Lionel Messi whose blocked shot did trouble the Bayern Munich defense but it came back to him. His second attempt was caught nicely by Yann Sommer.
Seven minutes later, Davies saw Musiala in the box and he fired a wonderful first time shot which spinned away from Danilo Pereira.
His intention was to locate the far corner with a shot from his left boot from a choked spot but Gianluigi Donnaruma did enough to palm away for a corner to Bayern Munich.
The first substitution made by PSG in the match
Few minutes after, Christophe Galtier substituted Marquinhos for Nordi Mukiele after the Paris Saint-Germain captain appeared to have injured his hip.
On the 38th minute, the biggest chance of the first half was received by PSG as Sommer had a lots of guts spending much time in control of the ball but his forward push was dispossessed by Vitinha who fired a shot to an empty net but Matthias De Ligt did enough to clean his goalie’s error.
The last big chance of the first 45 minutes dropped for Leon Goretzka who burst into the middle and located Alphonso Davies in space to his left but he dilly-dallies on the ball and his cut-back next up was blocked by Mukiele for a corner to the German side.
Bayern Munich ended the first half the more contented of the two sides, as they were still firmly in the game and in position of qualification to the next round.
Nordi Mukiele and Marquinhos were substituted for PSG before the second half started
Nordi Mukiele was substituted for El Chadille Bitshiabu, this seemingly looked like another forced substitution as Nordi Mukiele and Marquinhos who he came on for were doubts for this encounter.
Bayern Munich became hungrier, fiercer and hotter, pressing in addition to charging at PSG from the blast of the whistle for the second half.
The Bavarian side thought they had taken the lead on the 52nd minute as they scored the first goal but it was ruled out.
Alphonso Davies controlled the ball on the left flank and he did cut back to find Jamal Musiala who smashed a shot goal-bound with Cameroonian forward Maxim Choupo-Moting flicking the ball past Donnaruma and into the bottom corner.
During the passage of play, Choupo-Moting header was judged by VAR as offside due to an interference from Thomas Muller.
Maxim Choupo-Moting scored the first goal for Bayern Munich
The German side’s press and determination was paid back in full coin as Choupo-Moting opened the floodgates after a forced pass from Bitshiabu to Verratti was stolen as a result of the press of Muller and Goretzka.
Goretzka then squared the ball towards Choupo-Moting who clinically converted the chance offered to him, taking Bayern to the lead and doubling their advantage on aggregate.
Paris Saint Germain looking to get back into the game got a big chance on the 67th minute as Lionel Messi headed a ball that wasn’t fully cleared to the path of Kylian Mbappe who took down and fired with his left foot, getting a good near save from Yann Sommer.
Sane replacing Choupo-Moting for Bayern Munich
Leroy Sane replaced goalscorer Choupo-Moting a minute later and both sides still continued to show their threats to each other.
Paris Saint Germain made another substitution on the 76th minute as youngster Warren Zaire-Emery came on for Fabian Ruiz.
PSG made two additional substitutions on the 81st and 82nd minute respectively as Hugo Ekitike was brought on for Vitinha and Juan Bernat replacing Nuno Mendes.
Bayern Munich responded with a substitution of their own as Senegalese forward Sadio Mane came on for the German heavyweights.
Lionel Messi played a nice corner to Sergio Ramos, who rises the highest at the back post but his effort went wide and Bayern Munich can heave a sigh of relief.
Kingsley Coleman was substituted for Serge Gnabry and Joao Cancelo came on for Thomas Muller.
Serge Gnabry completed the job for the German side
The newly introduced substitute confirmed the qualification for Bayern Munich into the quarter-final as Serge Gnabry scored the winner for Bayern Munich.
Bayern got an extra goal in additional time from Mane as Leroy Sane played a pass to him in the box but the current African player of the year was offside and his goal was eventually chalked off.
The only yellow card in the game was shown to Achraf Hakimi for bringing down Kimmich in midfield, capping a calamitous night for PSG.
They have now gone 7 games in the UEFA Champions League without conceding a goal as they push towards their 7th UCL title.
It ended at the Allianz Arena with Bayern Munich continuing their spotless and domineering run of 8 wins and no loss in the competition.
Match highlights:
