Should we have been surprised that a semi-final between the Champions League holders and one of the favourites for this season’s crown delivered like this? Perhaps not. But Paris Saint-Germain’s 5-4 win against Bayern Munich at the Parc des Princes was everything we expected it to be… and so much more.
Alan Shearer, who was commentating on the game for Amazon Prime in the UK, said: “It’s one of the greatest games I’ve ever been to. It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to be here tonight.”
The competition’s highest-scoring semi-final match began with Luis Diaz winning a penalty for Bayern in the 16th minute after being felled by Willian Pacho. Harry Kane made no mistake from the spot to score his 54th goal of the season, but the lead did not last long. Eight minutes later, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia punished Bayern’s defence by weaving onto his right and slotting a shot into the bottom corner.
PSG then went ahead for the first time in the 33rd minute as the 5ft 9in Joao Neves headed home from Ousmane Dembele’s inch-perfect corner. Things got even better for the hosts when Dembele won a late penalty in the first half for a handball from Alphonso Davies — a controversial decision only made after the referee had reviewed it on a pitch-side monitor — with the Ballon d’Or holder converting the resulting spot-kick.
Luis Enrique’s holders went into overdrive after half-time, with Kvaratshkhelia giving them a two-goal cushion after running onto Achraf Hakimi’s pass in the 56th minute, and Dembele then making it 5-2 two minutes later with a shot that went in off the base of the post, leaving Manuel Neuer rooted to the spot.
Yet Bayern still had more fight left in them, with Dayot Upamecano getting one back with a glancing header from a set piece in the 63rd minute and Diaz making it 5-4 in the 68th minute after expertly bringing down a superb Kane pass and firing home — he was initially flagged offside, but the goal was given after a video review.
Here, Tim Spiers, Seb Stafford-Bloor, Graham Scott and Conor O’Neill break down an instant classic.
Should this have been the final?
When the semi-final line-up became known, this was obviously the standout match in terms of two high-quality, attack-minded sides playing pretty much at the top of their game and with no big stars out injured.
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All the ingredients were there — and somehow it outperformed expectations. In terms of adventurous, stylish, pacy, technically brilliant football, the first half was genuinely as good as the sport gets.
Both sides played with freedom and ambition. Not only were there five goals scored (as many as there have ever been in any first half of a Champions League semi-final), but also several other clear-cut chances were spurned as Olise, Dembele, Diaz, Kvaratskhelia, Kane and Doue, backed up by creative midfield string-pullers and attacking full-backs, continuously attacked the opposition defence.
You couldn’t take your eyes off it for a second. Chances were even missed by the broadcasters showing replays of opportunities that had occurred seconds earlier.
It was PlayStation football. Arguably, in a perfect world, this would have been the final… but a one-off match at a neutral venue would surely have tempered the open approach of both sides. Plus, we get another 90 minutes of this (at least) next week.
Don’t make any plans for next Wednesday night…
Tim Spiers
Olise v Kvaratskhelia in battle of the wing wizards
Is Olise the most dangerous one-v-one threat in world football currently? On this evidence, he’s certainly in the conversation. Olise is in the middle of the best season of his career and has a legitimate claim to be among the Ballon d’Or favourites at the end of the year — and the first half at Parc des Princes was a reminder of just how varied his threat is.
The France winger dominated PSG down the right side, beating defenders to their left and right, shifting his weight and direction with staggering ease, and with a regularity that kept left-back Nuno Mendes consistently off-balance. There were times in the first half when Olise seemed to be playing against nobody — holograms, perhaps — and with a few different bounces of the ball, he might have headed to the dressing room with a couple of assists, in addition to his goal.
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And that goal — which made it 2-2 — is increasingly who Olise is in this Bayern side. He has that thrusting urgency that changes games and tends to appear in critical moments. The brighter the lights, the better he plays — that’s a characteristic shared by the absolute best.
Kvaratskhelia has it, too. This ultimately became a game of transitions and a test of who was able to survive in moments of defensive isolation better. And who better than the Georgia international to exploit those situations, by teasing defenders already scrambling for position and to punish whatever shooting opportunities they give up.
He did it for his first goal, which settled PSG after going behind to Kane’s penalty. And he did it again for his second at 5-2, which — at the time — looked like it had put the tie beyond Bayern.
Truly, this was a night of exemplary wing play.
Seb Stafford-Bloor
But was Diaz the real MVP?
On a pitch full of brilliant players, with flowing moves arrowing in every direction, Diaz might have been the game’s star.
He scored — brilliantly — capitalising on a fabulous Kane pass, before twisting PSG’s straggling defenders into a knot, but his entire performance struck a tone that Bayern really, really needed in Paris.
At various points in the game, they looked not quite beaten, but winded by events — the penalty given against Davies, the 5-2 goal which briefly threatened to turn this into a thrashing. Each time, Diaz helped reclaim some positivity, with a driving run, a twisting dribble, or just the vague sense that he might do something to change the balance of the tie.
The Colombian is relentless — that’s the right word. Whatever his substantial technical qualities may be, there’s a persistence to Diaz which must make him a nightmare to play against and which creates the perception of a player who just absolutely refuses to lose.
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He’s played very well for Bayern on many occasions this season. He’s scored sensational goals before, too. But this was his best and his most important. Bayern needed everything he gave them this evening, including his spirit.
Seb Stafford-Bloor
Should it have been a penalty for Davies’ handball?
Analysis from The Athletic’s refereeing expert Graham Scott
At the end of the first half, Bayern gave away a penalty as Dembele’s cross came off Davies’ thigh and onto his arm.
There was no handball offence here — the ball was struck from close range, Davies had his arms close to his side, his movement was entirely justifiable, and there was no evidence of a deliberate act.
Quite why UEFA asks its referees to be so tough on handball in its competitions is baffling, even if it does so with the noble aim of improving consistency.
This would have been dismissed by a Premier League VAR on the first replay, but the Spanish video officials operate to a different interpretation in La Liga. They were likely persuaded by a still image suggesting Davies had extended his arm away from his body — he hadn’t, and it was a really poor call.
Graham Scott
How aggressive pressing suited both teams’ attacks
Neither side was going to sacrifice their front-footed principles, but their ultra-high pressing approaches played straight into each other’s attacking strengths.
Initially, Bayern dominated the pressing battle, suffocating PSG’s build-up and taking an early lead through Kane’s penalty. This control was never going to last long, though. Breaking through such pressure demands slick combinations, sharp movement and, above all, one-v-one quality, all of which both sides possess in abundance.
Bayern’s man-to-man press was regularly broken by Kvaratskhelia, Doue and Dembele, while Diaz and Olise proved just as elusive at the other end. Aside from Dembele’s penalty, the other four first-half goals stemmed from take-ons, with 13 completed in the first half alone.
The high pressing also left plenty of space in behind, and both sides, usually known for their short passing styles, were unafraid to go long to exploit it. PSG played 11.8 per cent of passes long in the first half, almost twice their season average, while Bayern launched it 14.9 per cent of the time.
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Knowing their opponents were fully committed to the press, both sides made clever movements to draw them forward before exploiting the space left behind. This was evident in Kvaratskhelia’s second goal, as PSG’s players dropped deep to pull out Bayern’s defence, allowing Hakimi to burst into the vacated space, collect Vitinha’s long pass and deliver the assist.
This commitment to a front-footed approach out of possession produced wonderful moments on the ball — and led to a truly end-to-end encounter.
Conor O’Neill
What did people say?
Luis Enrique and Kompany shared a humorous moment in the bowels of the Parc des Princes, captured by CBS Sports Golazo, when the Spaniard asked his counterpart “Do you like it?” of the madcap semi-final. “No I hate it, I really don’t like it,” a smiling Kompany replied, as he shook hands with the PSG coach.
Luis Enrique and Vincent Kompany share a laugh over the insane match their teams just played pic.twitter.com/HSEr75vFQp
— CBS Sports Golazo (@CBSSportsGolazo) April 28, 2026
“I’ve never seen a game with that rhythm before,” Luis Enrique told Canal+. “You have to congratulate the opponents, the players.”
Meanwhile, PSG captain Marquinhos said of the second leg to Amazon Prime: “The game there will be the same game — a crazy game between two teams that want to win and score. We need to go there with the same mentality, the same personality, so we can do an amazing job there like we did here.”
“It was a crazy game and a lot happened and there is a lot to digest,” Kane told CBS/Paramount+. “There is only one goal in it so we have to go back to the Allianz and make it our fortress next week.”
“I don’t think I have ever seen a better game live in my life,” legendary former Manchester United and Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel said on the U.S. channel’s coverage of the semi-final.