Madrid more than played their part in a cracking quarter-final tie but there can be no doubt that the better team progressed – with the emphasis very much on ‘team’. Bayern have their flaws in defence, with their soft centre a real cause for concern for Vincent Kompany, but they’re an outstanding side that keeps the ball brilliantly and works tirelessly to win it back.
As a result, they were always confident that they would turn the game around, with both Joshua Kimmich and Olise revealing afterwards that they felt that such was their control of the contest, it was only a matter of time before they regained the lead.
From a neutral perspective, it was heartening to see their combination of quality and character rewarded – particularly against a group of individuals that mix moments of magic with pathetic displays of petulance. Indeed, one cannot help but wonder what Vinicius Junior & Co. might achieve if they surrounded opponents as energetically as they surrounded the referee after the full-time whistle.
So, while it would have been fascinating to see Kylian Mbappe going up against his former employers in the last four, the prospect of Bayern battling it out with PSG for a place in the final is positively mouth-watering. In truth, it probably should have been the final, as they’re easily the two most attractive teams in the world right now, as easy on the eye as Arsenal and Atletico Madrid can be tough to watch.
But let’s look on the bright side. We now get to see Bayern and PSG collide twice in the space of eight days and, if their league-phase meeting is anything to go by, there’s every chance that we might actually see a semi-final to rival last season’s titanic tussle between Barcelona and Inter.
What a treat that would be for football fans with a decent attention span!
