Bayern Munich deepened the wounds of Paris Saint-Germain and inflicted a third successive loss on it in various competitions, by defeating it 1-0 at its home, the “Parc de Princes” stadium, in the first leg of the Champions League final.
Former Saint-Germain player Kingsley Coman scored the match’s only goal in the 53rd minute.
The second leg will be held in Munich on the eighth of March.
Saint-Germain fought its match against its Bavarian rival, with two losses in a row, the first against its arch-rivals Marseille in the final price of the cup competition in the middle of last week 1-2, then against Monaco 1-3 in the local league a few days ago.
Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe started the match on the bench of the reserve players, after recovering from a left thigh injury he suffered against Montpellier in the league on February 1, and his team announced at the time his absence from this match, specifically for a period of 3 weeks.
Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier gave the opportunity to young Warren Zaire Emre (16 years and 343 days) to start, after he had done well in recent times. Emery thus became the youngest player ever to play a match in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
A cautious start to the match from both sides, as Bayern had a relative advantage in terms of possession, but without real danger to the Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, with the exception of a shot from Cameroonian Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting that passed to the left post in the first minutes.
On the other hand, the capital team relied on counter-attacks and on the Argentine duo Lionel Messi and the Brazilian Neymar, but without much effectiveness, and therefore Bayern Munich’s Swiss goalkeeper Jan Sommer was never tried.
And there was the most dangerous opportunity for Bayern when the ball reached the outskirts of the area in front of Joshua Kimmich, so he controlled it before he fired it powerfully, and Donnarumma threw it (43).
Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann made a change between the two halves, so he involved the Canadian left-back Alfonso Davis instead of the Portuguese Joao Cancelo, so his choice was in his place because he was the owner of the decisive pass from which Koeman scored the first goal with a low, lightning shot that deceived Donnarumma (53).
Koeman, a former player in Paris Saint-Germain, scored Bayern Munich’s only goal against the capital team in the 2020 final.
Mbappe entered the midst of heavy applause from his team’s supporters in the 57th minute, and Donnarumma saved his goal from a sure goal by a former Saint-Germain player, Choupo Moting, when he removed his acrobatic corner ball with his fingertips (62).
The offensive front was very active in Saint-Germain, and the hosts were the best in the second half, as their attacks posed a real danger to the Sumer goal, and Mbappe scored a goal, but he was offside.
Mbappe managed to invest a cross after a wonderful individual effort by the Portuguese left-back Nuno Mendez and put it into the net, but the referee canceled the goal due to the infiltration of the decisive pass (82).
