Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich delivered a Champions League semifinal for the ages on Tuesday night, with PSG edging a thrilling 5-4 victory in the first leg at the Parc des Princes.
The nine-goal spectacle, the highest-scoring UCL semifinal ever, saw both sides trade blows in a relentless encounter that kept fans on edge from start to finish.
The match exploded into life early, setting a record for the most goals ever scored in a Champions League semifinal first half.
Harry Kane and Michael Olise struck for Bayern, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, João Neves, and Ousmane Dembélé responded for PSG, giving the French champions a 3-2 lead at halftime.
Dembélé’s first-half penalty, awarded after a VAR review for a controversial Alphonso Davies handball, proved pivotal amid Bayern’s furious protests.
The intensity never dropped after the restart, with PSG surging further ahead through Kvaratskhelia and Dembélé’s second goal of the night to make it 5-2.
Kvaratskhelia’s strike came in trademark fashion, finishing a rapid counter-attack after Dembélé cleverly allowed the ball to run through for his teammate to fire past Manuel Neuer.
The Georgian winger has now been directly involved in 20 goals in 23 Champions League appearances for PSG since his 2025 arrival, matching the output of Kylian Mbappé and Kane over the same period.
Despite the heavy deficit, Bayern refused to surrender. Dayot Upamecano pulled one back with a header before Luis Díaz added a spectacular fourth, cutting the score to 5-4 and setting up a tense final 20 minutes.
Bayern will now take belief into the second leg at the Allianz Arena on May 6, where they must overturn the narrow deficit to reach the final in Budapest.
PSG, meanwhile, remain in control but know the tie is far from over after another European classic.
