Arjen Robben: Neuer keeps Bayern in the tie as PSG control the second leg
Arjen Robben is the name on the headline, but Manuel Neuer was the one keeping Bayern Munich alive. He tipped Vitinha’s curling free-kick round the post as Paris Saint-Germain controlled the Champions League semi-final second leg and Bayern’s penalty appeals were turned away.
Neuer and Vitinha
Bayern started the night trailing 4-5 on aggregate, so every attack and every decision carried weight. Neuer’s save from Vitinha came after Joao Neves headed the ball back across goal, and it stopped PSG from adding to their advantage.
The goalkeeper’s intervention fit a first half that leaned PSG’s way. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had already forced a routine save from 20 yards, and Ousmane Doue had beaten three men before being fouled 30 yards from goal.
Bayern Appeals Denied
Bayern wanted more from the referee at 29 and 32 minutes. They appealed for Nuno Mendes to be sent off for handball in the 29th minute, but PSG were awarded a free-kick instead, and a later penalty appeal was denied after Vitinha’s clearance hit Joao Neves’s outstretched arm.
That frustration sat alongside Bayern’s lack of rhythm. By the 20th minute they had not found their usual attacking flow, though Michael Olise still managed a curling effort just over the bar in the 27th minute after Luis Diaz had cut the ball back on the left.
PSG Pressure Builds
PSG kept dictating the game from the 17th minute onward, when they were described as relaxed in possession and then as controlling the match by the 24th minute. Nuno Mendes also stayed busy, smothering Olise’s shot in the 15th minute after Diaz beat Zaire-Emery, before needing treatment following a collision with Upamecano in the 26th minute.
The match grew more volatile at 33 minutes when Stanisic was booked for a foul on Doue, and a lighter was then thrown onto the pitch in the 34th minute, apparently at one of the officials. Neuer ran across and asked the fans to stop.
With Bayern still chasing the aggregate deficit, the next spell belonged to them only if they could turn possession into cleaner chances. PSG had the ball, the better chances, and the edge in the officiating flashpoints that shaped the first half.
