Bayern Munich expose PSG as Messi departs the stage

Thomas Müller summed it up in his post-game interview: "I think the difference was that we were altogether the better team."

A simple sentence on the face of it, but an acknowledgment of what makes Bayern Munich everything PSG are not. This isn’t a vintage edition of Bayern, who usually have the Bundesliga sewn up by about now, but they found the winning formula against a PSG team blessed with individual talent but cursed by a lack of cohesion.

Bayern are a formidable force at home, having now won 16 of their last 18 Champions League games at the Allianz Arena, and while PSG accounted for the sole loss in that run two years ago, they never got close to derailing Bayern here.

Yann Sommer, however, did his best to make it interesting. The Bayern goalkeeper is still finding his feet as the replacement for injured Manuel Neuer and he sleepwalked into danger when he decided to dribble between Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi in his own box. That didn’t go well: for a horrifying moment, it seemed he’d given it to Vitinha on a plate – only for Bayern defender Matthijs de Ligt to spot the danger, clearing with a vital intervention on the line.

"My emotions were very negative when I saw (the mistake by Sommer), but then when I saw the shot on the goal and Matthijs fighting to get to the ball, my emotions were positive," Müller said of the game’s turning point.

"You always need a big moment of luck in games like these. Matthijs cleared it off the line and that was a big moment for us and in the second half we deserved to win. Maybe we even deserved to score one or two more," Müller added.

Choupo-Moting and Gnabry seal the deal

Müller was right, more than two wouldn’t have been flattering. Julian Nagelsmann’s side defended well, were controlled in midfield, and knew that while one goal would put PSG on the ropes, a second would be the knockout blow.

The first came from Müller mugging Marco Verratti on the edge of the PSG box, allowing Leon Goretzka to put it on a plate for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who obliged from close range. Just as Kingsley Coman came back to haunt PSG in Paris last month, this time it was the turn of the player who sat on the bench for PSG’s Champions League final defeat by Bayern in 2020.

The second was a late combination between substitutes Joao Cancelo, who burst forward on the break and picked out Serge Gnabry for a pinpoint finish into the bottom corner, leaving PSG on the canvas.

Messi leaves Champions League stage

Lionel Messi spent the final few minutes of the game wandering around and scratching his head, before walking off the field alone. At 35 and out of contract at the end of season, this may well have been his final act in a competition he has won four times. The lure of a distant land grows ever stronger for a player whose stunning career peaked in Doha in December and appears to be on a rapid slide with Paris.

Even the great Messi can’t paper over the cracks of Project PSG, which has never looked further from a winning the Champions League. Neymar may be out for the season, the injured Presnel Kimpembe is a miss in defense, and captain Marquinhos limped off early. But for a club bankrolled by Qatar with unlimited blank cheques, one still expects more. 

PSG look like a team of strangers and misfits, ending the game with a 36-year-old in defense, a 35-year-old in attack and two 17-year-olds. Money can buy PSG anything, but since the departure of sporting director Leonardo, the club appears to be a dysfunctional unit without a clear sporting vision. A marketing exercise that has lost its way.

Bayern on the other hand know exactly what it takes to win these heavyweight contests and this victory has the potential to energize them for the key tests ahead.