With a 2-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain away from home thanks to Luis Diaz’s two goals and red card, Bayern Munich have won 16 of their 16 games this season, underlining their status as early UEFA Champions League favorites.
On the stroke of half-time, the Colombian winger struck twice on Tuesday before being sent off for a violent tackle against Achraf Hakimi.
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After the break, PSG dominated possession but failed to make it count, falling to their first defeat in the competition since last season’s quarterfinal second leg defeat Aston Villa.
With the early replacement of Hakimi and Ousmane Dembele, Bayern remained top of the 36-team league with a maximum of 12 points, PSG in third, three points adrift, and with more injury concerns.
The most important thing I hope isn’t too bad for Hakimi. Bayern coach Vincent Kompany stated at a press conference that we had this experience with [Jamal] Musiala] at the Club World Cup in the United States.
“I always tell players to believe what there is when there is some hype.” We’ve won 16, but it’s going to be back to zero starting tomorrow. Today, no one has captured the Champions League.
The PSG counterpart, Luis Enrique, echoed that sentiment, saying, “Today’s standings are meaningless. February, March, April, and May are all important.
“It’s always difficult to lose at home,” he said. We must be more assertive and creative. A well-organized team, especially physically, was on hand. Marquinhos, the PSG captain, said, “We couldn’t get our game going.”
“This match has some positives to take away,” he said. The team continues to be ambitious, but we must improve. They were more superior to us. We were in control in the second half, but it came after the red card.
Ten-man Bayern are on pace for a dramatic victory.
Dembele made his Champions League debut, but Lee Kang-in took the place of him after 25 minutes.
PSG, who had defeated Bayern 2-0 in the Club World Cup quarterfinals in July, came out strong with their signature high pressing, but Lucas Chevalier’s effort was denied by Diaz in the fourth minute.
Dembele initially thought he had leveled midway through the half, but PSG struggled and looked unusually fragile at the back, where his goal was later ruled out for offside.
Bradley Barcola, who had a precise long ball from Fabian Ruiz, was denied by Manuel Neuer moments later in a spectacular save.
After Serge Gnabry hit the post, Diaz slammed on a sleepy Marquinhos to steal the ball and fire a second home in the 32nd minute.
Diaz abruptly missed half-time when he was shown a straight red card for a brutal lunge at Hakimi, who had a rumored ankle injury.
PSG had a number of long-range possession opportunities in the second half, but they didn’t have a cutting edge until the 74th minute when substitute Neves cut the deficit with a spectacular scissor kick from Lee’s cross.
Neves almost equalized a few minutes later with a header as PSG’s pressure increased. Bayern stayed put despite the hosts’ late ruckus.
Source: Aljazeera
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