A Kylian Mbappe double helped Paris Saint Germain edge out last year’s winners Bayern Munich in a thrilling Champions League encounter. Elsewhere, Chelsea gained the upper hand in their quarter-final tie against Porto, as they beat their opponents 2-0 on the night.
A rematch of last season’s UEFA Champions League Final saw Paris Saint Germain face Bayern Munich. The Parisians were out for revenge after being narrowly beaten by the Bavarians when the two sides met in the final – in August 2020. Mauricio Pohcettino’s men did get the win on this occasion, but they very nearly squandered a position of advantage thanks to Bayern’s second-half comeback.
It took Kylian Mbappe just three minutes to net the opening goal in the Champions League quarters. The Frenchman raced onto a Neymar through ball before hitting a fierce shot towards Manuel Neuer in goal. The German custodian misjudged the trajectory of the shot and ended up deflecting the ball into his net.
Bayern, who were missing Robert Lewandowski up front, went close on multiple occasions after the opening goal. However, they were kept at bay by an inspired Keylor Navas in goal. The goalkeeper’s heroics at one end enabled PSG to double their lead at the other. Neymar was the provider again, as he picked out a completely untracked Marquinhos in the opposition box. The PSG defender had the easy task of beating Neuer from close range, with the Bayern defensive line miles away.
Bayern traded in Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting from PSG ahead of the 2020/21 season. The Cameroonian led the line for the Bavarians in the absence of Lewandowski and scored what would be the first of two Bayern goals. The forward scored past his former teammate Navas following a pin-point cross from Benjamin Pavard.
The 2019/20 Champions League winners showed their mettle in the second half as they completed the comeback. Bayern’s standout performers Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Muller combined for the goal, which brought them back into the match and the tie.
However, Bayern’s efforts proved to be in vain as PSG grabbed their third of the night through Mbappe. The youngster, who had scored a hat-trick against Barcelona in the previous round, netted past Neuer for the second time on the night. The Parisians held on to the lead until full-time and will now take a major advantage with them to the second leg.
Chelsea beat Porto by two goals to nil in the other quarter-final tie and claimed the advantage ahead of the second leg. Both teams travelled to Seville for the match due to Covid-19 restrictions, but Chelsea were assigned the tag of the ‘away’ side before the match. As such, the Blues scored two crucial away goals on the night.
Porto looked the more dangerous of the two teams during the early parts of the match. The Dragoes did not sit back as was expected of them. Instead, they took the game to Chelsea and created several half-chances for themselves. Nevertheless, Thomas Tuchel’s side gained control of the match soon after and was rewarded for its first extended spell of possession when Mount scored the opener. The England international received the ball from Jorginho outside the area, left his marker Zaidu Sanusi on the ground with a superb half-turn, and finished past Augustin Marchesin in goal with a splendid strike.
Chelsea looked to double their advantage in the second half with the crucial away goal in the bag. Substitute Christian Pulisic came agonizingly close to scoring his second Champions League goal of the season but hit the crossbar with his shot. Nevertheless, Chilwell scored for the Blues shortly after, as he took advantage of a poor touch by Jesus Corona before rounding Marchesin and tapping into an empty net.
Tuchel’s team will return to Seville to play their ‘home’ leg next week. They have one foot in the next round already, courtesy of a fine first leg performance.
