Kingsley Coman struck in the second half as Bayern Munich defeated PSG at Parc Des Princes to inch closer to Champions League Quarterfinal.
Head-to-Head
Both teams have met 11 times in the Champions League with just a win separating both sides, and no draw.
PSG have won 6 times, while Bayern Munich have five wins, but they have scored an equal number of goals.
At Parc Des Princes, it has always been a reign of goals in the Champions League. Except for their 2020/21 0-1 loss in the final to Bayern Munich, their last 32 games have ended with an average goal of 2.6.
Meanwhile, the Bavarians finished the Group stage of this current Champions League as the best team, securing maximum 18 points, and scoring 18 goals, while conceding only two.
In the 2019/20 Champions League season, the Bundesliga champions recorded a 100% win percentage, winning 11/11 of their matches.
Despite an intimidating Champions League record, PSG are the only team that have gone shoulder-to-shoulder with Bayern Munich.
They are the only team with a superior win percentage of 55% against Bayern Munich, and the Ligue 1 Champions have only lost one home game at Parc Des Princes, and have won four times out of their last five meetings.
Starting Lineup
Christoph Galtier went with a strange 4-4-2 formation, with Lionel Messi and Neymar leading the attack, while Kylian Mbappe was dropped to the bench.
At defense, the former Nice manager lineup Hakimi, Marquinhos, Sergio Ramos, and Mendes in the defense, while Zaire-Emery, Pereira, Verratti, and Soler were in the midfield.
Paris Saint-Germain eleven: Gianluigi Donnarumma; Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Sergio Ramos, Nuno Mendes; Danilo Pereira, Marco Verratti, Carlos Soler; Lionel Messi, Neymar, Warren Zaire-Emery.
Julian Nagelsmann went with his typical 4-2-3-1 formation, lining up Joao Cancelo, de Ligt, Upamecano, and Pavard in the defense.
Goreztka and Kimmich played defensive midfield roles, providing cover for the central defense. Coman, Musiala, and Luis Sane were deployed in attacking midfield roles, with Choupo-Moting leading the attack.
The likes of Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller, Gravenberch, and others were dropped to the bench.
Bayern Munich: Yann Sommer; Benjamin Pavard, Dayot Upamecano, Matthijs de Ligt, Joao Cancelo; Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka; Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala, Kingsley Coman; Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
Before the game, a minute silence was observed for the victims of the Turkey and Syria earthquakes that swallowed up thousands of victims and brought to rubble several giant infrastructures.
It was a very good start for Bayern Munich as the referee set the ball rolling. The game began at a frantic pace with Coman, who scored the winner in the closed-door final between the two sides three years ago, constituting a thorn in the flesh of Hakimi on the left flank.
Bayern center forward Choupo-Moting got the Bavarian’s first attempt, but it was off target. Meanwhile, Donnarumma was forced to clear the ball twice in less than a minute as Bayern pressed for an early goal.
Bayern continued to dominate proceedings in the game and were comfortably more balanced than the Ligue 1 champions.
PSG seemed to rely more on counterattacks to offset Bayern’s dominance and unleash threats, but they rarely tested Yann Sommer.
Meanwhile, the game took a more balanced and measured pace after a hasty start.
Unlike their visitors, PSG had fewer touches in the Bayern Munich half, and the Bavarians only had the pace and skill of Neymar to be afraid of.
After the first half, it was Bayern Munich the better side. Joshua Kimmich gave the Bavarians huge leverage in the midfield. Neymar was frustrated up front. PSG failed to record a single shot on target. Bayern made 9 attempts, with two on target, but was unable to break the goal deadlock. The first half ended 0-0.
Bayern Munich still held sway over the Parisians as the first half began and it was not long before Coman put the visitors on a deserved lead in the 53rd minute.
The France international fired in a thunderbolt pass Donnarumma from a cross inside the PSG box to give the Bavarians the lead.
Christophe Galtier took off Soler and brought on Kylian Mbappe in the 57th minute as Bayern still had the better of the Ligue 1 giants despite leading by a lone goal.
In the 77th minute, Nagelsmann subbed off Choupo-Moting for Thomas Muller.
PSG made late efforts to secure an equaliser in the final minutes, but Bayern held on to secure an important win, which moves them close to 10th Champions League quarterfinals in the last 11 games.
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