Bayern easily defeats PSG to advance to the quarterfinals

Bayern Munich easily advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals while sending Paris St. Germain out of the competition again again.

Just after the hour mark, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored for the hosts against his former team, and late-arriving substitute Serge Gnabry added the finishing touches to a polished performance.

The Ligue 1 champions and their under-fire head coach Christophe Galtier once again failed miserably as PSG was ousted from the league at this stage in five of their previous seven seasons.

A VAR judgement and an offside flag disallowed an earlier Choupo-Moting header and Sadio Mane’s stoppage-time effort, saving the Parisians from the shame of a four or five-goal aggregate defeat despite having a star-studded lineup.

While defending a one-goal lead from the first leg and fending off the combined menace of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, six-time European champions Bayern had started the evening on edge.

While PSG’s star forward line intermittently threatened early on, neither was afforded enough time or space to cause any real damage to a disciplined and effective Bayern team, who won easily.

The winning German team’s sole real worry came in the opening period and was fully preventable.

Goalie Yann Sommer gave visiting midfielder Vitinha an open goal after being fouled by Achraf Hakimi, but Matthijs de Ligt produced a brilliant sliding save for the home team.

On March 17 in Nyon, Switzerland, the competition’s final eight are drawn.

Responses to the Champions League match on Wednesday
Effective Bayern outperform PSG.
Sommer’s error ought to have resulted in punishment and given PSG the will to continue and win the match, much like Real Madrid did to them almost precisely a year ago.

Vitinha’s subpar performance, however, was indicative of a team that has frequently overpromised and underdelivered on important European evenings. This team also failed to score in a knockout match for the first time since the 1994–95 semifinals against AC Milan.

Both Sergio Ramos and Mbappe had second-half attempts superbly stopped by Swiss international Sommer, but Bayern were well in control at that point.

Changes made by the German team highlighted their control and strength in reserve. Julian Nagelsmann was able to put in Gnabry, Mane, Joao Cancelo, and Leroy Sane while removing players like Thomas Muller and the impressive Jamal Musiala.

Cancelo, a Portuguese international on loan from Manchester City to Bayern, made an immediate impression. Three minutes after coming on, he set up Gnabry for the game-winning goal.