‘Pinnacle of art and culture’: Europe’s media on nine-goal PSG-Bayern thriller

French media were in thrall to a victory hailed as a milestone performance, calling Paris Saint-Germain’s 100th win in the Champions League as “one of the finest” in the club’s history.

Bayern Munich will be hoping for a repeat of their goal bonanza when they host the holders in the semi-final return leg next Wednesday, with Tuesday’s 5-4 loss in Paris breaking the competition record for most goals in a last-four game.

L’Équipe described the performance as “a prodigious battle of astonishing intensity and technical quality”, highlighting the performances of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembélé, who both scored twice. Its football commentator Vincent Duluc called the game a “whirlwind of every emotion and every impulse, contradictory and furious” and said it had “showcased the best of modern football”.

Le Parisien was similarly lavish in its praise, calling the encounter “pure madness, this pinnacle of art and culture, this museum of world wonders, this legend for the history books – all of this must be passed on, recounted, and recounted again”.

But it struck a cautionary note given Bayern’s late surge that could well work to their favour in Munich: “Neither side will want to back down, and the outcome will once again hinge on the sheer force of their attacks, both of which are incredibly potent.”

In Germany, the press homed in on Bayern’s defensive vulnerabilities but remained sanguine about the return after the visitors dug deep to cut the deficit from 5-2 with two second-half goals.

Kicker called it a “football festival at the Parc des Princes”, a “spectacular encounter” where Bayern were nearly overwhelmed but “showed resilience” and “impressive character” to claw back to 5-4 through goals by Dayot Upamecano and Luis Díaz. “Both teams revealed their quality, but also their vulnerabilities,” Kicker reported.

Süddeutsche Zeitung noted the absence of Bayern’s coach, Vincent Kompany, from the touchline – due to suspension – but highlighted his post-match sentiment that “the belief is 100% there” for the return. Bild concentrated on the rarity of the scoreline, calling it a “wild, wide-open football battle”.

Italian media were in thrall to Kvaratskhelia, with La Gazzetta dello Sport lauding “Kvara” as the standout player, describing his curling finish to level the scores at 1-1 as a “moment of pure magic”. It called the match a “total spectacle. Real football, pure football. Football in its finest essence.”

Corriere dello Sport hailed the game as “football at its absolute peak” but was circumspect about the pell-mell nature of Bayern’s performance, saying it “splits the world in two: on one side, there are those who saw adrenaline, senseless play, a frenetic pace … and those who saw only a game acceptable only on PlayStation”.

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