The Daily Bee (April 14th, 2021): Paris Saint-Germain Eliminate Bayern Munich

Good morning, everyone!

No matter who wins today between Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund, the opponent that the eventual winner faces has been decided. Yesterday, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich faced each other at the Parc des Princes, with Bayern needing to overcome a 3-2 away goal deficit. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your sensibilities, Bayern Munich could not replicate their quality performance in the first leg, and despite winning on the day 1-0, lost the tie on away goals.

In a weird way, this match was a dark mirror reflection of the first leg. Last Tuesday, Bayern were absolutely dominant, racking up 31 shot attempts, but only finished two chances, while PSG were much more efficient with the limited chances they had. Yesterday, it was PSG that was the better side, breaking down Bayern again and again on the counter, but each time failing to convert. Neymar must have had three or four grade-A chances in the first half alone, including a beautiful curled effort that would have been a golazo if it hadn’t struck the post, but he couldn’t finish any of them.

A goal from Eric Choupo-Moting right at the end of the first half meant that the second half was razor-thin, but Bayern ultimately couldn’t generate many chances, and those they did create, they couldn’t make count. Their best chance came in the match’s final moments, when Leroy Sané face the following scenario:

If he had set the ball up for Jamal Musiala, the young German would have had a decent chance to score, but instead Sané tried to whip the ball across to Javi Martinez at the back post, and Keylor Navas was able to disrupt the cross.

Overall, Bayern’s sheer quantity of chances in the first half should have been enough to see them through, but not finishing enough of them hurt them too much. While they overall had the better of the chances over the two legs, PSG scored enough to keep the tie close and win on away goals.

Neymar’s Interesting Comment/Joke

Following the match, Neymar was asked about the course of the match, and how even though Bayern controlled much of the possession, PSG were the more dangerous side. He gave an analogy that, I’ll be honest, I don’t quite understand.

A lot of Bayern fans are making it seem like Neymar was trash-talking them, while I just think he was trying to be funny in a way that fell flat. Soccer players aren’t exactly known for their comedic timing. I think Neymar may need to re-work his material a bit before he’s ready for a Netflix special.

Hansi Flick to Leave Bayern Munich?

Lost in the drama of yesterday’s Champions League action was a post-match interview between Sky Germany pundit Lotthar Matthäus and Bayern manager Hansi Flick. Flick appeared to have a bit of an emotional outpouring, talking about how stressful the past few weeks have been, with all the drama about whether or not he would take over as head of the German National Team. According to Matthäus, who has a lot of connections within both Bayern and the DFB, Flick looks very likely to take over this season.

Oh, and Chelsea beat Porto in the other round of the Quarterfinals yesterday. Porto won 1-0 in a game that didn’t feature a shot on target until the 63rd minute. This is about as much coverage as that match deserves.

The Daily Buzz

Who do you think will replace Hansi Flick at Bayern if he does leave for the German National Team?