56 min Vitinha sweeps a crossfield pass to Doue on the right. He surges into the area, veers to the right and whacks a shot from a tight angle that is beaten away by Neuer. Comfortable save.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n 54 min Kane is fouled 30 yards from goal by Marquinhos. Bayern play the free-kick short and tee up Pavlovic, whose long-range shot goes high and wide.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a scruffy start to the second half.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 52 min Kane has a shot from 15 yards that is blocked. Bayern don\u2019t need to force this, not yet \u2013 they know from the bitter experience of their last Champions League<\/a> semi-final that you can score two goals in no time.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.16 EDT<\/p>\n 51 min Pacho goes down again, this time after being caught in the face by the arm of Laimer. The poor guy is turning into the Tom Reagan of this game.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 49 min Pacho has a slight cut to the head but it\u2019s been treated and he\u2019s fine to continue.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 48 min Pacho ducks into a bouncing ball at the same time Kane goes for it with his boot. The result is some accidental stud-on-noggin action and a break in play while Pacho receives treatment.<\/p>\n Willian Pacho gets treatment for a cut to the head. Photograph: Franck Fife\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.17 EDT<\/p>\n 47 min \u201cAs someone who feels they no longer understand the handball rule, I was pleased with that Ifab link<\/a>,\u201d says Jakob. \u201cBut if it isn\u2019t handball if your team-mate kicks it at you, couldn\u2019t you have some very creative set pieces? I\u2019m still waiting for Nicolas Jover\u2019s rugby lineout routine.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 46 min Peep peep! PSG get the second half under way.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe best thing about Kvaratskhelia is that he doesn\u2019t quite fit the stereotype of the modern elite athlete,\u201d writes Ben Watson. \u201cSlightly dishevelled and hunchy, but absolute dynamite. He\u2019s obviously crazily fit, but has the air of someone who might like a ciggie at half time, and possibly a few brandies in the bar afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Half-time reading<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Half time: Bayern Munich 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain (agg: 4-6)<\/p>\n Jonathan Tah misses a good chance right at the end of the half, heading Kimmich\u2019s long free-kick back across goal and wide of the far post. He was unmarked 10 yards out and might have done better.<\/p>\n Bayern have been playing catch-up since the third minute, when Ousmane Dembele finished off a brilliant move to double PSG\u2019s aggregate lead. They had their best spell as half-time approached and will feel they are still in the tie. But they have to score the next goal.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45+2 min Kvaratskhelia is booked for kicking the ball away.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min Two minutes of added time.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>44 min: Good save by Safonov!<\/p>\n Olise backheels the ball to Musiala, who turns and heads straight for goal. Kane creats some space with an off-the-ball run, allowing Musiala to reach the edge of the area before pinging a low left-foot shot that is pushed away by the diving Safonov.<\/p>\n A few seconds later, Musiala shoots over from the left side of the box. He has come to life and Bayern are having their best spell of the game.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 42 min Thanks to Neil Walsh, who has confirmed that it\u2019s not a handball offence is the ball is smashed at you by a teammate. Here\u2019s the relevant Ifab link<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 41 min Musiala, hitherto quiet, gets to the byline on the right and smashes a low cross that is beaten away at the near post by the diving Safonov. Good goalkeeping.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 39 min \u201cWhoever loses today is lucky,\u201d writes Krishnamoorthy V. \u201cImagine prevailing against a terrific opponent over two legs only to be beaten 1-0 by Arsenal in Budapest.\u201d<\/p>\n Photograph: Tony O Brien\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.50 EDT<\/p>\n 37 min After another devastating counter from PSG, Kvaratskhelia\u2019s low ball into the six-yard area is crucially cut out, I think by Tah.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 36 min I haven\u2019t had chance to check the wording of the handball law to see if it explains why Joao Neves wasn\u2019t penalised. Maybe it\u2019s because the ball was hit by Vitinha so the handball didn\u2019t impact a Bayern attack. Who knows.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 34 min A lighter has been thrown onto the pitch, presumably at one of the officials. Neuer runs across to that part of the ground and asks the fans to stop.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>33 min: Brilliant save by Neuer!<\/p>\n Manuel Neuer has kept Bayern in the tie. Vitinha curled a superb free-kick beyond the far post, where Joao Neves came round the back and headed firmly back across goal. The ball bounced up awkwardly and was fingertipped round the post by the diving Neuer.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 33 min Stanisic is booked for a foul on Doue. Bayern are ticking.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 32 min: No penalty! Blimey. Bayern are furious and you can understand why, especially after the penalty that was given against Alphonso Davies last week.<\/p>\n Josip Stanisic and Joshua Kimmich remonstrate with referee Joao Pinheiro after a very controversial (non) penalty decision. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.42 EDT<\/p>\n 31 min: Bayern penalty appeal! It\u2019s all kicking off again. Vitinha\u2019s smashed a clearance that hit the outstretched arm of his teammate Joao Neves, and this will surely be given by VAR.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.34 EDT<\/p>\n 29 min Bayern want Nuno Mendes to be given a second yellow card for handball \u2013 but the referee gives a free-kick to PSG! The Bayern players and Vincent Kompany are fuming.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure what the free-kick was given for, but sending off Mendes would have been harsh because he was barely a yard away from the ball when it was kicked against the top of his arm.<\/p>\n The Bayern players want a red card for Mendes. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.36 EDT<\/p>\n 27 min Olise runs at the backpedalling Nuno Mendes in the area, shifts the ball onto his left foot and whips a curling shot just over the bar. Good effort, the closest Bayern have come to scoring.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 26 min Nuno Mendes needs treatment after a collision with Upamecano. Looks like he\u2019s fine to continue.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 24 min There\u2019s a long way to go, and at least eight more goals to be scored, but right now PSG are controlling the game.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 22 min Diaz twists Zaire-Emery inside out before smashing a shot over the bar from a tight angle. Zaire-Emery, filling in at right-back in the absence of Hakimi, is struggling against Diaz.<\/p>\n Luis Diaz is giving Warren Zaire-Emery twisted blood on the left. Photograph: Odd Andersen\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.29 EDT<\/p>\n 21 min Doue beats three men before being fouled 30 yards from goal. The referee plays a good advantage, allowing Kvaratskhelia to zip infield and hit a shot from 20 yards that deflects through to Neuer. A comfortable save.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 20 min Bayern haven\u2019t found their usual attacking rhythm; everything feels a bit forced, even desperate. I suppose that\u2019s inevitable when you\u2019re two goals down to a team as good as PSG.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 17 min PSG are so relaxed in possession, swanning around like it\u2019s a pre-season friendly rather than a Champions League<\/a> semi-final.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 15 min Diaz beats Zaire-Emery on the left of the area and cuts the ball back towards Olise at the near post. His shot is smothered superbly by Nuno Mendes, PSG smuggle the ball away and Kvaratskhelia runs about 80 yards before having a shot deflected behind for a corner. He is an extraordinary footballer.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 14 min \u201cSo good to see the Champions League<\/a> final being played on a midweek evening,\u201d writes Stephen Holliday. \u201cNever felt quite right on a weekend\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 13 min Olise teases Mendes, gets to the byline and slides a cross that is turned behind by the stretching Mendes for \u2026 a goalkick. In defence of the referee, I thought it ricocheted back off Olise as well; it was only the slow-motion replay that suggested otherwise.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 12 min Kane has a shot from the edge of the area that is blocked.<\/p>\n Incidentally, it\u2019s pelting down in Munich. It might be raining on Bayern\u2019s face if PSG get another.<\/p>\n Matvey Safonov gets to the ball before Harry Kane in a frantic start in Munich. Photograph: Odd Andersen\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.18 EDT<\/p>\n 10 min \u201cNeuer\u2019s attempt at saving Demb\u00e9l\u00e9\u2019s (admittedly brilliant) shot was very awkward,\u201d writes K\u00e1ri Tulinius. \u201cHe looked like a middle-aged man whose back seized up reaching for a book from the top shelf.\u201d<\/p>\n Middle-aged men should never reach for top-shelf literature.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 8 min Olise is chopped down by Nuno Mendes, who is booked. The resulting free-kick is taken short and then overhit by Olise. Bayern haven\u2019t settled yet.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 5 min I\u2019m still reeling from how good that goal was.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Kvaratskhelia, just inside his own half, flicked the ball round the corner to Fabian Ruiz and got on his bike. Fabian Ruiz guided a gorgeous first-time pass into the space on the left wing, knowing that Kvaratskhelia would be first to the ball. Kvaratkshelia galloped all the way into the area before picking out Dembele at the far post with a precise cutback. Dembele watched the ball onto his left foot, 15 yards out, and flashed a first-time shot into the roof of the net. It was in the centre of the goal but Neuer was beaten for pace. That is a quite devastating counter-attack from PSG.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.12 EDT<\/p>\n GOAL! Bayern 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain (Dembele 3); agg 4-6<\/p>\n Ousmane Dembele puts PSG ahead on the night with a brilliant goal!<\/p>\n Ousmane Dembele scores a brilliant opener for PSG. Photograph: Matthias Schr\u00e4der\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.09 EDT<\/p>\n 2 min Bayern have started with Konrad Laimer at right-back and Josip Stanisic on the left, not the other way round as advertised.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 2 min Still goalless. I knew it\u2019d be an anti-climax.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 1 min Aaaaaaaaaaaaand action. Luis Diaz gets the match under way for Bayern, who are kicking from left to right as we watch.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n On this day in 1998\u2026 Ronaldo demolished Lazio in the Uefa Cup final.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n These are the gentlemen who are about to entertain us<\/p>\n Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1) Neuer; Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Laimer; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Musiala, Diaz; Kane.<\/p>\n Subs: Ulreich, Urbig, Kim, Goretzka, Jackson, Davies, Bischof, Ito, Guerreiro, Karl.<\/p>\n Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3) Safonov; Zaire-Emery, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha, Neves; Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia.<\/p>\n Subs: Vignaud, Laurendon, Marin, Beraldo, Zabarnyi, Ramos, Lee, Hernandez, Mayulu, Fernandez, Barcola, Mbaye.<\/p>\n Referee Joao Pinheiro (Portugal)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHi Rob,\u201d says Gary Stover. \u201cWho do you see Arsenal lining up better against, Bayern or PSG?\u201d<\/p>\n I was going to say Bayern, but then I remembered how well Arsenal played in Paris in the second leg of last year\u2019s semi-final. So my considered answer is: dunno.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a little bored with the hyperbole over the first leg,\u201d writes Jose Mou- Tim Smith. \u201cIt\u2019s like regular football folk have lost the run of themselves. So, I predict a dull, cagey, 0-1 with a late goal. Of course, I\u2019ll probably be proven wrong within five minutes of kick off.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cEvening Rob,\u201d begins Andy Gordon. \u201cAs Scott\u2019s MBM last week<\/a> gave us nine goals and all-time classic, if tonight doesn\u2019t meet expectations do we email you with complaints\/refund requests?\u201d<\/p>\n They should be directed to the readers\u2019 editor, but my email will be open when the tenth goal goes in.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> It was a soundbite designed to go viral, the kind the ex-pros in the TV studios are always looking to confect; snappy, heavy on hyperbole, bang in the moment. Thierry Henry made it pop on Tuesday night as he interviewed Bukayo Saka on CBS Sports after Arsenal had beaten Atl\u00e9tico Madrid<\/a> to advance to the Champions League final. \u201cWe were the Invincibles. You will be the Unforgettables,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n There it was, as laid out by one of the greats, the goalscoring hero of Arsenal\u2019s unbeaten bolt to the 2004 Premier League title, the last one they won.<\/p>\n Saka, who scored the winner in the second leg at a delirious Emirates Stadium, and his teammates can see the path to glory. Actually, it is more than that. It would be immortality. Because if they can hold off Manchester City to win the league and add the Champions League<\/a> in Budapest on 30 May, it would top anything any group of Arsenal players has achieved.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cPlease spare a thought for New York,\u201d says Peter Oh, \u201cthe only city named in the classic tune Pop Muzik<\/a> that\u2019s not alive in the Champions League. (And no, they\u2019re no longer in the Concacaf Champions Cup either. Sorry, Big Apple.)\u201d<\/p>\n Why are you bringing Kajagoogoo into this?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Go on, treat yourself<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The players are on a yellow card<\/p>\n None. Nada. Zilch. Bugger all. The only way to miss the final through suspension is to be sent off tonight.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 grins when he says that, if he does not press, he will be benched by Luis Enrique. The Ballon d\u2019Or winner does not do his defensive work under duress. Like the rest of his teammates, he seems to derive enjoyment from a part of the game that was once seen as unnatural. Attackers would attack and defenders would defend; simple rules for a simple game. But demands have changed.<\/p>\n The forward line of Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, Lionel Messi and Neymar was a mouthwatering prospect but they failed to take Paris Saint\u2011Germain close to a Champions League<\/a> title and there was a lack of joy in their work. All attack and no defend made PSG a dull watch. There was a lesson in their failure: that football had changed and matches could not be won by the sheer weight of their attacking talent.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Team news<\/p>\n Both teams make one change from the first leg. Bayern prefer Konrad Laimer to Alphonso Davies at left-back, while PSG bring in Fabian Ruiz for the injured Achraf Hakimi. That probably means a switch to right-back for Warren Zaire-Emery.<\/p>\n Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1) Neuer; Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Laimer; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Musiala, Diaz; Kane.<\/p>\n Subs: Ulreich, Urbig, Kim, Goretzka, Jackson, Davies, Bischof, Ito, Guerreiro, Karl.<\/p>\n Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3) Safonov; Zaire-Emery, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha, Neves; Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia.<\/p>\n Subs: Vignaud, Laurendon, Marin, Beraldo, Zabarnyi, Ramos, Lee, Hernandez, Mayulu, Fernandez, Barcola, Mbaye.<\/p>\n Referee Joao Pinheiro (Portugal)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.51 EDT<\/p>\n In the novel Rabbit, Run<\/a>, John Updike has one of his characters, a groovy and progressive 1960s priest, calling round to talk to his fellow minister, a hard German Lutheran, about the secret doubts he harbours about his faith. Is the doctrine really necessary? Is hell just, you know, a metaphor? He likes Jesus. But maybe he also likes sinful things, like sex and recklessly open attacking football.<\/p>\n The hard German Lutheran takes one look, curls his lip and tells the groovy progressive priest to get down on his knees in the kitchen and beg for forgiveness. Who is he to reason with divine suffering? Life is pain. Joy is pain. Pain is pain. Frankly, the groovy priest who likes flying full-backs and an open midfield disgusts him. He will burn in hell for his spineless debauchery. The groovy priest leaves in tears.<\/p>\n Cutting straight to the views of Clarence Seedorf on Amazon Prime after the 5-4 between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich<\/a> on Tuesday night felt a bit like this. Seedorf is an excellent pundit, hugely informed and quietly twinkly, with the brow, the jaw and the eyes of some terrifyingly austere US president, all brackish integrity and ramrod restraint, but dressed in golf clothing and stood next to Wayne Rooney.<\/p>\n What Seedorf said about the virtues of structure, about entertainment versus restraint, was in many ways very Dutch, even perhaps quite Lutheran in tone. Yes, goals are good. Fun is fine. But football is also control and defence. Football is not conceding four goals at home. Arsenal and Atl\u00e9tico Madrid can study this, feed on it as a weakness to be gouged open. And good luck to them both with that.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n How do you follow the Lord Mayor\u2019s Show? By doing it again a week later, doofus! Okay, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> may not share another nine goals in Munich, but it\u2019s hard to see tonight\u2019s match being anything other than a belter.<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/David_Hytner,_L.png\")
David Hytner<\/p>\n![\"Barney](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Barney_Ronay.png\")
Barney Ronay<\/p>\n