Three observations from Bayern Munich’s exhilarating 1-0 victory over PSG

Bayern dominate the pitch

Bayern Munich played like the Bayern of old, so hats off to you Julian Nagelsmann.

Bayern made sure the only damage Paris Saint-Germain would be able to inflict was through their speed and their counterattack. Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka thoroughly — and I mean thoroughly — dominated the PSG midfield. Throughout the game, Bayern maintained exceptional ball movement especially from Jamal Musiala, Joshua Kimmich and Kingsley Coman.

With Thomas Müller and Alphonso Davies on the bench, Bayern had to find creative ways to crack through a stout Paris-Saint Germain defense led by Sergio Ramos. By continually maintaining possession in the PSG half and moving the ball laterally, not only were Bayern able to find holes in the defense but it eventually allowed Kingsley Coman to score in what is swiftly becoming a trend for him against his former club.

Bayern’s defense holds strong

Take a bow, Dayot Upamecano and Matthijs de Ligt. Coming into this match the World Cup injury to Lucas Hernandez was the major focal point when it came to defending against Paris Saint-Germain’s three headed monster of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe. But frankly after this match, we know that we have two incredibly talented and youthful defenders who can easily hold their own against the worlds best.

While WhoScored.com did not give De Ligt as good of a match grade as us at BFW would think, they at least properly recognized Upamecano’s superb game by giving him a 7.7, a score which ranked second of all players.

All of this praise for our defenders is worthless without mentioning that Yann Sommer had arguably his best Bayern Munich performance tonight, stuffing Kylian Mbappe when it mattered most.

Bayern have a lot of work to do for the second leg

Paris-Saint Germain ultimately made it a close game with a pivotal Mbappe substitution which proved too little, too late. By boy did the tide turn when Mbappe joined forces with Neymar and Messi. Bayern suddenly looked as PSG did for most of the game: On their back foot, unable to connect passes, and making too many untimely errors due to pressure. PSG more or less took Bayern’s game plan against them and used it to their favor in the last 25 or so minutes of the game. What’s even more terrifying was that Mbappe scored twice. While both were ruled offsides, one of them was the length of a single toe:

Alarm bells should be ringing at Säbener Straße about how close this game was to being a devastating defeat. Add onto that Benjamin Pavard’s untimely second yellow late in the match, Bayern were on the precipice of a collapse. Julian Nagelsmann & Co. should be solely focused on one thing and one thing only: Defeating Paris-Saint Germain at home in Munich.

Interested in a more in-depth and critical look at the performance? Why not check out our postgame podcast? Listen to it below or on Spotify.

As always, we appreciate all the support!