Result: Bayern Munich v Paris Saint-Germain
Date: 07 April 2021
Venue: Allianz Arena
Kylian Mbappe netted a sparkling brace as Paris-Saint Germain claimed a 3-2 victory away at Bayern Munich in UEFA Champions League quarterfinal first leg action on Wednesday.
Robert Lewandowski was the high-profile absentee for Bayern, while Serge Gnabry was a late withdrawal having tested positive for Covid-19, but Hansi Flick's side were still unchanged from their win over RB Leipzig.
Bayern found themselves behind with just three minutes gone. Neymar won the ball back in midfield and surged through the heart of the Bavarians' defence before slipping the ball to Mbappe on his right, whose shot squeezed between the legs of Manuel Neuer and into the back of the net.
Hansi Flick's side were dominating possession and territory, but went 2-0 down shortly before the half-hour mark. A corner was cleared and Bayern failed to push out quickly enough with Marquinhos breaking the offside trap to expertly control Neymar's left-footed in-swinging delivery from the right-hand side and calmly side-foot the ball into the bottom right-hand corner.
The hosts continued to boss the encounter, with PSG looking menacing on the break but the Parisians were allowing Bayern onto them and sitting back a bit too much. And the pressure would tell in the 37th as Benjamin Pavard swung the cross in from the right-hand side for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to glance the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.
It was all level on the hour mark. Draxler brought down Pavard on the right flank and gave away a free-kick in a dangerous position. Joshua Kimmich delivered a beauty of a set-piece from the right-hand side for Muller to glance into the far corner from an acute angle.
But once again, the visitors caught the Bundesliga giants out on the counter-attack. Di Maria's through-ball released Mbappe down the inside left channel and he cleverly feinted to go for the far corner before firing the ball through the legs of Jerome Boateng and inside the near post.
Bayern were pressing hard for a leveller and came close through David Alaba and then Muller but it was not to be as PSG took three away goals and a one-goal advantage to the French capital for next week's second leg.
