Bayern Munich vs PSG
The most coveted prize in club football was up for grabs on Sunday evening.
Bayern Munich faced off with French powerhouse PSG in the Champions League final in Lisbon.
For the latter of those outfits, it was their first-ever time competing in the competition’s showpiece.
As for Bayern, they were aiming to land their 6th Champions League trophy with their previous victory coming back in 2013.
To get to the final, PSG saw off Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta and RB Leipzig.
Meanwhile, Bayern beat Chelsea, Barcelona and Lyon to reach Sunday’s clash.
Those three victories were just the latest in Bayern’s staggering winning run which spanned 20 games before the Champions League final.
Stalemate
With both sides possessing such quality attacking assets including the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, plus Bayern’s tendency to play a particularly high defensive line, many were expecting Sunday’s final to be something of a goal-fest.
And Bayern would once again persist with their high line in the early stages of the game, penning PSG into their own half in the process.
The Bavarians were unable to break the Ligue 1 champions down straight away, though, with Thiago’s wild long-range effort after five minutes Bayern’s first half-chance of the evening.
A mistake from Leon Goretzka after eight minutes led to PSG being handed their first opportunity of the evening in the form of a free-kick but little came of it.
Goretzka then made a key block from a Mbappe effort moments later as the French outfit began to find their feet in the tie.
Joshua Kimmich then had to shut down Mbappe after the Frenchman got on the end of a lovely ball from Leandro Paredes before Manuel Neuer made a big double-save to prevent Neymar opening the scoring. Manuel Neuer with the first big save of the night!
After some sustained pressure from PSG, Lewandowski was inches away from the opener when the hitman’s effort beat Keylor Navas before hitting the post. Lewandowski strikes the woodwork!
The end-to-end action didn’t stop there, though as Di Maria smashed a huge chance over with his weak foot 23 minutes in.
This was followed by Bayern being forced into an early change as Jerome Boateng, who has been dealing with some injury issues in recent weeks, made for Niklas Sule.
Lewandowski’s header on the 30-minute mark then forced a decent save from Navas with both sides looking like they could open the scoring at any moment.
David Alaba’s wayward pass then nearly handed PSG the lead but Mbappe’s effort was very poor.
That chance was not the first time Bayern’s insistence on playing out from the back had cost them either.
However, despite all the chances and usually deadly attacking prowess of both outfits, the half time whistle blew with the score at 0-0.
Bayern clinch 6th Champions League
The second 45 began in a similarly energetic fashion to the first with the end-to-end action continuing.
The were very few actual chances in the opening exchanges of the second-half, however.
Coman would come up clutch for the Germans just before the hour mark though.
Kimmich would whip a lovely curling cross from the edge of the box to the winger who was left unmarked and had no issues heading past Navas. Said opener led to Thomas Tuchel almost immediately brining on Marco Verratti. Advantage Bayern! Parisian born Kingsley Coman bags a goal against his former club… A BIG call for Hansi Flick to bring him into the starting
Bayern seemed to step it up a gear after Coman’s opener with the outfit we have become so accustomed to seeing recently finally turning up.
Bayern were moving the ball with much more pace and intent and Coman probably could have had a second after 63 minutes.
PSG’s first chance of the second half came after 66 minutes when Di Maria whipped a decent cross into Mbappe who was unable to connect.
The Argentine then set up Marquinhos but Neuer made another solid stop.
PSG also probably should have had a penalty when Kimmich clipped Mbappe’s foot by VAR didn’t check the decision.
After struggling to break now the Bundesliga powerhouse, PSG looked to their saviour from the quarter-finals, brining on Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting after 80 minutes.
The former Stoke striker was unable to recreate his heroics from the last eight, though, with Bayern doing a solid job of nullifying the likes of Mbappe and Neymar who, along with the rest of the PSG squad, had a pretty mediocre second 45.
The final whistle blew with the score at 1-0 with Bayern securing their 6th Champions League trophy thanks to former PSG and Paris-born Kinglsey Coman.
Bayern also became the first side in history to clinch the trophy whilst winning every single game in their run-in.
FC Bayern München are the first side in European Cup/Champions League history to win 100% of their games in a single campaign en route to lifting the trophy (11 wins). Flawless.
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