The first leg of the last 16 of the Champions League will bring together Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
The duel ended in favor of the visiting team Bayern Munich with a narrow score of 1-0.
Kingsley Coman scored Bayern’s winning goal in the 53rd minute with a volley.
This result certainly gives Bayern a breath of fresh air before the second leg match which will be held on 9 March 2023 at the Allianz Arena.
PSG striker Kylian Mbappe came on as a substitute and was able to score twice, only for both goals to be ruled out for offside.
Bayern Munich ended the match with 10 men after Benjamin Pavard received a second yellow card in stoppage time but was still able to hold the score at 1-0 until the referee sounded the long whistle.
“We played very well in the first 25 minutes and the best team of the night won. It’s an important victory but the second leg is coming,” said Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann as quoted by ESPN.
“We were dominant and aggressive at first. Then they started to find depth when Mbappe came on,” continued Nagelsman.
After suffering their third defeat in a row, PSG will have to come back and perform better in the second leg of the Allianz Arena if they are to still qualify for the last 8 of the Champions League.
“We had a difficult time against a team that enjoys possession and presses high,” said PSG manager Christophe Galtier.
“Too bad they conceded that goal before Kylian came on but they deserved to score.”
Kylian Mbappe says he shouldn’t have played Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League last 16.
Kylian Mbappe suffered a hamstring injury on February 1 which was initially expected to be out for three weeks.
But Mbappe came off the bench in the 57th minute to change the game.
“It’s difficult, it’s unpredictable,” Mbappe was quoted as saying by ESPN.
“I shouldn’t be playing but I want to play and help my friends,” he continued.
“We did everything, we worked day and night to give me playing time. I wanted to [start the game]. But sometimes you have to be content with what you can do, and that’s all I can do,” Mbappe continued.
Kylian Mbappe believes that if PSG are at full strength, they can turn things around in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 in Munich.
“We have to remember the last part of the game; we were behind but we saw that we could cause them problems,” added Mbappe.
“We need all our players to be healthy and go out there to win and qualify,” he continued.
“We saw that when we are all together we can play forward, play attacking football and they are not comfortable,” concluded Mbappe.
Senior defender Sergio Ramos has pointed to what PSG need to change if they are to qualify for the last eight.
“I’m very disappointed with the fans,” he told Canal+.
“We have to show more character in the second leg, and more verticality,” he said.
“We want to win and be the best we can be, but this is the nature of football. Sometimes we play well, sometimes we play badly. The most important thing is the final result. The more we play, the more experience we will have. It will getting better and better.”
PSG coach Christophe Galtier also hopes that Achraf Hakimi will be able to return to playing after being substituted due to injury in the first half.
“I was counting on him but it quickly became evident he couldn’t play the whole game,” said Cristophe Galtier.
“We took a risk with him but he quickly developed sore muscles.”
