Bayern Munich 2-0 PSG (Agg. 3-0): Player ratings as Choupo-Moting haunts former club
Bayern Munich are into the Champions League quarter-finals for the fourth consecutive season after seeing off Paris Saint-Germain by a 3-0 aggregate score-line in the last 16. PSG, meanwhile, have failed to get past this stage for the fifth time in seven years.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored the killer goal against his former club, before substitute Serge Gnabry made certain of Bayern’s win in the final moments.
Aside from an early Kylian Mbappe strike gathered by Yann Sommer, there were few clear opportunities in the opening stages of the game that was being played at a good tempo in midfield without particularly threatening either penalty area.
Leon Goretzka went on to have a shot from distance that was comfortably picked up by Gianluigi Donnaumma, while a well worked PSG move didn’t produce the chance it should have when Mbappe’s first touch was far too heavy and narrowed the angle.
As the first half progressed, it was PSG applying more pressure and it took a goalmouth scramble and a combination of Dayot Upamecano, Matthijs de Ligt and Sommer to deny Lionel Messi, who couldn’t regain his balance after being tackled at the critical moment by the former.
It took Bayern almost half hour to have a meaningful spell of possession, but that yielded the best chance either side had had at that stage. Jamal Musiala’s turn and low shot across the goal from the left side of the box was smartly parried by Donnarumma.
PSG were almost gifted the lead in the closing stages of the first half when De Ligt came to Sommer’s rescue after a moment of madness from the goalkeeper. It was almost as if the Bayern stopper wanted to dribble past players in his own penalty area. When he lost the ball, the goal gaped for an off-balance Vitinha, who couldn’t get enough power on it and De Ligt cleared off the line.
Bayern had penalty appeals waved away soon after the restart when Choupo-Moting went down under pressure from Danilo Pereira, while the same player had what appeared to be a legal goal ruled out only moments later. His header found the back of the net, but Thomas Muller made an attempt to play the ball in an offside position – he didn’t appear to touch it, though.
When Choupo-Moting finally got the breakthrough, it was PSG’s own doing. Teenage substitute El Chadaille Bitshiabu played Marco Verratti into trouble on the edge of the box, with pressure from Goretzka and a tackle from Muller winning it for Bayern and allowing Goretzka to square it to Choupo-Moting for an easy tap-in.
PSG almost managed an instant response through Sergio Ramos, whose header was tipped wide of the post by a diving Sommer to preserve Bayern’s two-goal aggregate cushion. The former Real Madrid skipper had another header later on that just missed the target.
In need of two goals, the visitors looked flat and out of ideas. It was a poor night for Mbappe overall and Messi wasn’t much better., but much of the blame also lay at the feet of PSG’s midfield for failing to provide the necessary service. When Mbappe did threaten to do something in the closing stages, there was an outstanding tackle from Alphonso Davies to shut the door in his face.
By the end, PSG had thrown Ramos up front to leave gaps at the back and they were punished when Joao Cancelo slipped the ball through to Gnabry to seal with a composed one-on-one finish. Sadio Mane even had a goal chalked off by an offside flag in stoppage time.
Bayern Munich player ratings (4-2-3-1)
GK: Yann Sommer – 6/10 – Went walk about in the closing stages of the first half and had to be bailed out by his defence. But ended up making a top save at 1-0 that proved to be hugely important.
RB: Josip Stanisic – 7/10 – Preferred to Joao Cancelo and justified his selection.
CB: Dayot Upamecano – 8/10 – Made a potentially goal-saving tackle on Messi in the first half. Never gave Mbappe a sniff either.
CB: Matthijs de Ligt – 7/10 – A heroic sliding goal-line clearance spared Sommer’s blushes.
LB: Alphonso Davies – 8/10 – His perfectly-timed late tackle on Mbappe killed off any last threat of a PSG comeback. Great all night.
CM: Leon Goretzka – 7/10 – Had a couple of pot shots from distance but his pressure on the ball resulted in an opportunistic assist.
CM: Joshua Kimmich – 7/10 – Dictated the pace and tempo of what Bayern did. Big defensive effort.
RM: Kingsley Coman – 7/10 – His pace forced PSG to think plenty.
AM: Thomas Muller (c) – 7/10 – Ended up costing his team one play by trying to play the ball when offside, but he made Chouo-Moting’s goal possible by winning it high.
LM: Jamal Musiala – 8/10 – Looked a real source of danger for Bayern when he got on the ball.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting – 8/10 – Thought he should have had a penalty and then had a goal chalked off. But persistence eventually paid off.
Substitutes
SUB: Leroy Sane (68′ for Choupo-Moting) – 7/10
SUB: Sadio Mane (82′ for Musiala) – 6/10
SUB: Serge Gnabry (86′ for Coman) – N/A
SUB: Joao Cancelo (86′ for Muller) – N/A
Manager
Julian Nagelsmann – 9/10 – Got the selection and his team bided their team while PSG controlled the first half. Made changes towards the end to see it out.
PSG player ratings (3-5-2)
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma – 6/10 – Made a few decent saves but could do little about the killer Choupo-Moting goal or the second from Gnabry.
CB: Danilo Pereira – 6/10 – Survived penalty appeals early in the second half.
CB: Sergio Ramos – 7/10 – Forced Sommer into a top save right after Bayern scored and missed the target with another header later on – probably PSG’s two best chances.
CB: Marquinhos (c) – N/A – Seemed to be playing a variety of different positions within his centre-back remit. But his night ended in the first half due to injury.
RM: Achraf Hakimi – 6/10 – Did a decent defensive job on Davies, but lacked his own attacking quality.
CM: Vitinha – 5/10 – Off-balance when he had an open net to aim for and lacked conviction. Didn’t create or find his forwards.
CM: Marco Verratti – 4/10 – Lost the ball to give Bayern their goal, although he was played into danger in the first place by a teammate.
CM: Fabian Ruiz – 4/10 – Achieved very little.
LM: Nuno Mendes – 5/10 – In the pocket of Stanisic.
ST: Lionel Messi – 5/10 – Involved in patches and that was it.
ST: Kylian Mbappe – 3/10 – Had one early chance but was otherwise hardly there.
Substitutes
SUB: Nordi Mukiele (36′ for Marquinhos) – N/A
SUB: El Chadaille Bitshiabu (46′ for Mukiele) – 5/10
SUB: Warren Zaire-Emery (76′ for Ruiz) – 5/10
SUB: Hugo Ekitike (81′ for Vitinha) – N/A
SUB: Juan Bernat (82′ for Mendes) – N/A
Manager
Christophe Galtier – 5/10 – Lost two players to injury before the second half kicked off, but his team never made the most of their first half dominance. Things later turned quite flat.
Player of the match – Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)
