It cannot always be a laugh a minute. Paris Saint-Germain will play Arsenal in the Champions League final and they made sure of that by getting serious, nullifying an off-key Bayern Munich and rarely wobbling after adding to their first-leg lead. Luis Enrique’s team should have won by more in a match that did not, and probably never could, hit the previous week’s heights but their triumph was underpinned by an aptitude for the dirtier work that would serve them well in Budapest.
Ousmane Dembélé’s emphatic third-minute finish seemed to have ended this semi-final’s goalfest and the regret for Vincent Kompany will be that Bayern were a yard short of their sharpest all night. It could have been different if one of their openings before the break, Jamal Musiala spurning the best, had gone in but Harry Kane’s added-time goal came far too late.
Kompany had urged any Bayern fans feeling less than fighting fit to hand their ticket to somebody capable of making a din. A raging red fever had spread here nonetheless, the Südkurve in situ 45 minutes before kick-off and bouncing to the repertoire of club anthems, each rendition headier than the last and not a scarf permitted to sag. There had been an electricity around Munich, a city perfectly given to the big event, all day and it was not confined to those declaring an interest.
For neutrals entering Allianz Arena felt akin to crossing the threshold to Narnia; a prostration to whichever means might this time be deployed to test the limits of possibility. According to Luis Enrique, PSG would need at least three goals to go through. Perhaps he had been caught up in the first leg’s wide-eyed thrill, or maybe the continent’s two star turns really would serve up more of the same.
It took 140 seconds to dispel any concerns that circumspection might be preferred. Michael Olise had just spoiled a slalom past Khvicha Kvaratskhelia by diving when, with the Bayern right-back Konrad Laimer stranded, Fabián Ruiz played the Georgian into gaping space and the hosts were in trouble. Kvaratskhelia drew parallel with the six-yard box and there was a chilling certainty to what followed. Dembélé, meeting the cutback unmarked while Bayern’s defenders floundered, thrashed left-footed above a helpless Manuel Neuer.
Bayern had conceded even earlier at home to Real Madrid before righting themselves. This time there was no swift response, although a Kane shot was charged down and Nuno Mendes blocked crucially from Olise. It was already a game of near-constant counter press, both sides stretching and scratching without asserting control. Another rapier counter would take PSG, who had the run of that left flank, to the brink and Kvaratskhelia marauded again before Neuer gathered his deflected drive.
Olise, in the mood if yet to fire, scooped a 20-yarder marginally too high. Then Bayern screamed for a penalty after a hurried Vitinha clearance smashed into the extended arm of João Neves; nothing was awarded and, coming after a similar appeal for Mendes to be shown a second yellow card for handball was rejected, a sense of home injustice ran as hot as that earlier optimism.
It needed channelling. Neuer made a sensational one-handed stop from João Neves’ downward header after Bayern switched off at a free-kick, subsequently pleading with the fans behind him to keep possessions in their pockets as PSG prepared the resulting corner. Nobody required an explanation of the next goal’s importance but Musiala, letting Matvey Safonov parry after space had opened up, could not find it and by half-time PSG were sitting in some kind of comfort.
Surely Bayern would not go quietly. They needed more from players like Luis Díaz, who had nibbled at the deputy right-back Warren Zaïre-Emery without joy. Aleksandar Pavlovic sliced wastefully wide after 10 minutes of a slow-burning start to the second half, an early stoppage for treatment to Willian Pacho doing nothing to aid the flow. Neuer batted Désiré Doué’s angled effort away and, almost immediately, blocked from Kvaratskhelia as PSG sensed their chance to settle matters. At the other end Zaïre-Emery earned a handshake from his captain, Marquinhos, for thwarting a link-up between Díaz and Musiala.
It was of a piece with the way they were smothering a tentative Bayern, who were camped in their half as the hour ticked past but showed little sign of sculpting the opening that could transform everything. Doué, rampant whenever PSG broke, made Neuer keep Bayern in the tie once again. When Safonov repelled an effort from Díaz, Kompany was left holding out for a late miracle.
Doué shot narrowly wide twice, the real wonder by now being that he had not managed to score. Then Kvaratskhelia, after a mindboggling spin and run, could not quite connect when a goal for the ages looked on. Bayern, battling but beaten, had nothing until Kane’s inconsequential blast.
