Paris Saint-Germain's dream of lifting the Champions League remains just that. On Wednesday, Bayern Munich beat PSG 2-0 in their round of 16 second leg to knock out Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and company, 3-0 on aggregate.
It was Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's goal in the second half on a lost ball from Marco Verratti that seemed to put the tie out of reach in the 61st minute. PSG, without the injured Neymar and seeing star defender Marquinhos leave in the first half due to injury, wouldn't get one goal, let alone two, and in the dying minutes Serge Gnabry put the match fully out of reach, sending PSG heading for the exits of the competition much earlier than expected.
Bayern were the superior team on the night against a PSG that seemed to lack ideas, dictating the pace of play for much of the second half to advance relatively unbothered.
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PSG did have their chances, most notably an open goal shot by Vitinha that was cleared off the line by Matthijs de Ligt in the first half, but it was far from enough by a club who have stumbled more than a bit as of late, showing an inconsistency on both ends of the pitch that clearly cemented them as non-contenders to win this competition.
With the victory, Bayern advance and look like the only German team set to move on with Dortmund bounced by Chelsea on Tuesday and Eintracht Frankfurt looking at an uphill battle against Napoli next week.
It is all over as the Germans advance and the French champions fall. Choupo-Moting and Gnabry with the goals. Coman's first leg strike made it 3-0 on aggregate. Another failure of a season in Europe for PSG.
Gnabry makes it safe. The hosts double their lead and add a third over the two legs. PSG are done and opened up easily as Donnarumma is beaten.
17-year-old Zaire-Emery comes on as PSG try to salvage something from what already looks to be too tall and order.
Ramos' header is brushed aside by the Bayern keeper. PSG knocking at the door to level.
Easy finish for Choupo-Moting as Verratti is dispossessed. Awful goal for PSG to concede. Bayern lead 2-0 on aggregate.
Donnarumma looking ropey so far this second half. Choupo-Moting was not far from being in on goal and the follow-up shot hits the former PSG man. He then puts the ball in the back of the net but it is ruled out for offside! Drama! VAR confirms. Do not confirm that PSG had a goal chalked off in the first leg for similar.
The substitute is substituted. Young Bitshiabu comes on for Mukiele who came on for Marquinhos.
Goalless at the break. Vitinha and Musiala with the best chances so far on either side. Marquinhos was forced off injured and it looks as if Mukiele has taken a knock too. Tie still alive at this point!
What was Sommer doing? Vitinha denied on the line by De Ligt. Not quite powerful enough! What a chance that was to level the tie.
Donnarumma makes a great low save to deny Musiala with Bayern's best chance so far! It seems as if Marquinhos will finally be forced off. Mukiele will replace him. It was touch and go pre-game so he did well to start and go 30. Mbappe is now PSG captain.
A few groans around the Allianz Arena after a misplaced pass. It has not been a classic so far, but Messi did get a sight of Sommer's goal a few minutes ago. This will suit PSG more than Bayern for now.
The Morrocan international is played down the right and has a great look to swing in a dangerous ball, but he completely mishits it, sending it well past the frame of the goal and nowhere near a teammate.
German hosts Bayern have two France internationals in their starting XI with Upamecano and Coman to French visitors PSG's one in Mbappe. But what a brilliant solitary representative for Les Bleus he is. All-time leading club scorer with 201 goals and wearing special boots to celebrate that this evening.
No shots for either in a stale first 10 minutes. Remember, PSG are obligated to win in order to have any chance of advancing, but a one-goal victory would only force extra time. Bayern are through with a win or better.
The match has begun!!!
It is nearly go time in Bavaria. So much is at stake. So much could happen. Is this the last we see of Messi in the Champions League? Will Mbappe come to the fore and lead PSG to the quarterfinals? Might Nagelsmann get caught out for a second consecutive year in Europe? Will Choupo-Moting or Coman come back to haunt their former club? We are about to find out.
The Brazilian defender struggled to finish his warm up in Germany and Mukiele was involved at the end of the session with the starters. Not ideal for Galtier who has already reshuffled his pack a few times. Marquinhos starts and had been a doubt, but could he pass the captain's armband to Mbappe earlier than expected?
"It's an important match, we knew that after the first leg, there was still the second leg to play," said PSG's Marco Verratti pre-game. "We lost 1-0 at home, so they have a slight advantage but everything is still to play for. To get through, we will need to put in a top performance against a top side. We believe in ourselves, we will need to perform very well to take the qualification back to Paris."
"It's important to arrive here feeling confident," added the Italian. "After the defeat in the first leg, we spoke a lot and we picked up three wins on the trot, we have found our feet again, as well as the tactical system from the start of the season. We will need to be at our best to win this match, Bayern also want to qualify. There will be a lot of top players on the pitch. We want to enjoy ourselves and go out and qualify. Tomorrow, out on the pitch, we will need to show that we are strong and win here."
"The season doesn't come down to just this match," argued Galtier. "Every match is important. It's a very difficult competition, there will be a winner and a loser tomorrow. But we play every match with the ambition of winning it. The Champions League is a very important objective, we want to go as far as we possibly can. We will need to have a much more defiant approach than what we showed in the first leg. If we are in that mindset, we have the opportunity to qualify."
"Kylian is a player that we are lucky to have here with us, we need to have players like him," said Verratti of Mbappe's return to fitness. "We know that it's not over, we want to put in a top performance tomorrow, we are playing for something huge, and we love this pressure. It's important to be able to count on him. And he also can't wait to be there."
"We are well prepared and I am curious to see how PSG start the game," said Thomas Muller pre-game. "We may have the chance to pressure them. I know PSG, but I do not watch five or six consecutive 90-minute games. When I see their highlights, you always see a contribution from Neymar. Sometimes he can decide a game with a single action."
"We were prepared for Mbappe in the first leg," said Nagelsmann pre-game. "He is one of the world's best and he changes his team's game plan too. He will start on Wednesday and had three good moments in the second leg. However, you make life hard for yourself if you only set up to defend."
"Mbappe is a player whose profile represents a danger," added Muller ahead of the game. "He scores most of PSG's goals. However, it is a team game and you have to be careful regarding passes to him and the space you allow him. He will be important for PSG on Wednesday. Every strength has a weakness, though."
PSG do not just need to reach the Champions League quarterfinals or better for themselves. The French soccer landscape needs its biggest gun to remain active given how tight the UEFA coefficient ranking is getting. No pressure, then... Netherlands and Portugal are gaining ground which the French champions cannot afford to let happen.
Ever the optimist, I have gone against the grain and fancy PSG to out-score a vulnerable Bayern side to progress. You can check out all of our experts' predictions right here.
One matchup to watch: Dayot Upamecano vs. Kylian Mbappe -- The two France international teammates are likely to see a lot of each other come Wednesday. Although Matthijs de Ligt might also be brough more central given Benjamin Pavard's suspension, Mbappe will likely favor going up against Upamecano where possible given his knowledge of his fellow Frenchman. The first leg was all about Mbappe and he only came on as a second half substitute before ripping into Bayern with the help of Nuno Mendes. Expect 90 minutes of PSG trying to do just that again here.
Most likely to score a goal: Mbappe -- The opening leg only really came to life when Mbappe came on and his introduction transformed PSG. With the French champions' season effectively on the line here, expect Mbappe to at least have some say as Christophe Galtier's men attempt to score their way to qualification. Given what we have seen from Les Parisiens against Lille and Marseille domestically, no Neymar in Bavaria could actually benefit PSG as it simplifies things in attack and maximizes the impact of Mbappe's searing pace.
Man of the Match pick: Nuno Mendes -- The Portugal international was sensational in the second half of the first leg and Galtier will try to replicate that showing as PSG really tested Yann Sommer in the Bayern goal. Whether it will be enough depends on how clinical Mbappe and Lionel Messi can be, but the LOSC and OM showings have been promising as far as goals are concerned. The only concern over Mendes might be his ability to go the full 90 and potentially beyond given his recent knock against Lille.
Match prediction: Bayern 1-3 PSG (after extra time) -- Such a result would put the Ligue 1 leaders through and the Bundesliga giants out. Julian Nagelsmann's men really should have buried Galtier's side in Paris when they had the chance. Counterattacking suits this PSG side and Mbappe in particular who has already shown his ability to deliver at Allianz Arena in recent years. Gianluigi Donnarumma could be the difference in whether or not this one goes beyond 90 minutes, but do not be surprised if PSG fly out of the traps looking to erase Bayern's first-leg advantage as soon as possible.
PSG confirmed on Monday that Neymar will miss three to four months after the decision was made to undergo surgery to repair his damaged right ankle after years of recurring issues. The latest injury came in the 4-3 win over Lille OSC in Ligue 1 and that on the back of the same problem in the FIFA 2022 World Cup.
"Neymar Jr has sustained a number of instances of instability in his right ankle in recent years," read PSG's official medical update. "Following his latest sprain on 20 February, the PSG medical staff recommended a ligament repair operation to avoid a major risk of recurrence. All the experts consulted have confirmed this necessity. The surgery will be performed in the next few days at the ASPETAR hospital in Doha. It will take 3 to 4 months before he can return to training with the team."
"He is a player that has scored a lot of goals and picked up a lot of assists since the start of the season," added head coach Christophe Galtier of Neymar's surgery ahead of the Bayern Munich UEFA Champions League round of 16 clash. "He is a top professional. He is the first person to be upset by his injury, and I really am thinking about him. Having Neymar in the squad would always be an additional asset to score goals."
You can read my full piece on Neymar and the fallout from his injury right here.
Bayern Munich: Sommer; Stanisic, Upamecano, De Ligt; Coman, Goretzka, Kimmich, Davies; Muller (c), Musiala; Choupo-Moting.
PSG: Donnarumma; Danilo, Ramos, Marquinhos (c); Hakimi, Vitinha, Verratti, Ruiz, Nuno Mendes; Messi, Mbappe.
By James Benge
Since the moment Kylian Mbappe took the field at the Parc des Princes in last month's first leg, PSG have been revived as an attacking force. Lille, Marseille and Nantes have all been defeated with Christophe Galtier's side running up 11 goals in three games with Mbappe himself scoring five of them. Appearing on House of Champions after the first leg, Thierry Henry laid out three reasons why PSG were in trouble: structure, form and desire. Set against that, four words that would strike fear into the heart of Bayern Munich defenders -- "But they have Kylian."
The man himself is traveling to Munich with a simple gameplan in mind.
"When we play attacking football, it's uncomfortable for them," Mbappe said after the 1-0 defeat in Paris. "You have to be positive. From what I've seen [in the first leg], it's not over. We're going over there to qualify."
Individually there appear to be components in Bayern's backline that can be targeted and Julian Nagelsmann never hesitates in asking a great deal from the few defenders he has on the pitch. If we know anything about Mbappe in the Champions League, he will score.
And yet it is hard to see that being enough. Even as PSG have clicked into gear offensively, they have left the stable door open behind them; both Lille and Marseille had shots worth more than two expected goals combined in defeat and across the entire Ligue 1 season the Parisians are giving up shots worth around 1.2 xG per game. For most that would hardly be reason for fear but Galtier's side are supposed to be so far clear of the field that that looks to be too high a number. Similarly in their seven Champions League matches they have given up 8.1 xG, not a colossal amount but hardly all that much given they have had shots worth 9.9 xG in games where they have mostly been the favorite.
Frankly, we have seen enough of PSG in the Champions League to have a pretty strong sense of how this will go. Even without Neymar a frontline of Mbappe and Lionel Messi will give Bayern Munich all sorts of trouble, a moment might well come in this tie when the hosts seemed overwhelmed. But Bayern will not be carrying two passengers off the ball who simply wait for possession to be won back. They will have the numerical superiority to create chances of their own and if this PSG backline has wobbled against domestic opposition, wait to see what happens when it faces the riches Nagelsmann has in the final third.
Bayern: Neuer and Hernandez remain out for Nagelsmann but Leroy Sane could be available after coming on against Stuttgart over the weekend. Noussair Mazraoui also remains unavailable but Sadio Mane could also feature after missing the win in Paris.
PSG: Neymar and Kimpembe are out for the long-term while Achraf Hakimi should be available to Galtier despite recent rape charges against the Morocco international. Renato Sanches is likely to miss out again and Nordi Mukiele took a knock during the win over Nantes as did captain Marquinhos who will not be fully fit for this one.
(All times U.S./Eastern)
We also have you covered for team news with expected XIs which will be updated once the official lineups drop and you can find that right here.
Probable Bayern XI: Sommer; Stanisic, Upamecano, De Ligt; Coman, Kimmich (c), Goretzka, Davies; Sane, Musiala; Choupo-Moting.
Probable PSG XI: Donnarumma; Danilo, Marquinhos (c), Ramos; Hakimi, Ruiz, Verratti, Vitinha, Mendes; Messi, Mbappe.
Paris Saint-Germain have it all to do in Munich after losing Tuesday's Champions League Round of 16 first leg tie. But what changes should Christophe Galtier make to his team?
Welcome to the CBS Sports live blog of the Champions League! I'm Roger Gonzalez, joined by Jonathan Johnson for a big one as PSG travel to face Bayern Munich in the round of 16 second leg! This match will air live on CBS and Paramount+ at 3 p.m. ET! Let's get to it!
