LONDON: Paris St Germain reached the Champions League semi-finals despite a 1-0 home defeat by holders Bayern Munich on Tuesday as they progressed on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate result in a thriller that was on a knife edge until the final whistle.

Bayern striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored the only goal before the interval at the Parc des Princes but it was not enough to overturn the German side’s 3-2 loss in last week’s first leg.

Mauricio Pochettino’s PSG side, who struggled at times in Munich, had the clearest chances but lacked efficiency, with Neymar hitting the woodwork twice and Kylian Mbappe’s speed proving tough to handle but with no end product.

PSG kept their composure in a nerve-wrecking finale and after losing 1-0 to Bayern in last year’s final, PSG stand one step away from the second final of their 51-year history and remain on course to win it for the first time.

“I am delighted, despite the defeat. We were facing a great team, the European champions, but we are going back to the semi-finals,” Neymar told broadcaster RMC Sport. “We are a real team. The most important thing is that we are through. Now we can aim for something even bigger.”

PSG now face either Manchester City or Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals.

“Congratulations to my players, all the credit goes to them,” said PSG coach Pochettino, who led his former club Tottenham Hotspur to the final in 2019. “We were very focused. It was a really tough match I’m really happy. To win and qualify for the semi-finals is an amazing moment for us.”

Chelsea — managed by Thomas Tuchel, who was fired by PSG in December — also reached the last four on Tuesday with a 2-1 aggregate win despite Mehdi Taremi’s stunning overhead kick in added time handing FC Porto a 1-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg.

The substitute had been responsible for his side’s only attempt on target as they chased a 2-0 deficit from last week’s first leg but he provided an emphatic response in a cagey game with his acrobatic strike deep into added time.

Aside from Taremi’s effort, Tuchel’s side successfully stifled Porto in what proved to be something of an arm-wrestle in their home leg back at the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium, the venue of both games due to Portugal’s coronavirus restrictions.

“We accepted what was needed, it was a tough, tough fight,” Tuchel told BT Sport. “Maybe on the television it was not so nice to watch but on the sidelines it was a very intense game, a very fast game. It was very hard to play against them to escape the pressure

but with every minute we did it better and better.”

Chelsea qualified for the semi-finals for the first time since 2014, the English team going through to meet either Real Madrid or Liverpool for a place in the final.

“We’re buzzing, it doesn’t get better than that,” said Chelsea’s Mason Mount. “We could have played better but just getting through was at the forefront of our minds and we did that tonight.”

SECOND-LEG DEFEAT

Bayern had to score twice after losing in Germany in the first leg of their quarter-final and survived several scares from livewire Neymar in the first half before largely taking control in the second.

Neymar had three shots saved by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and hit the woodwork twice in an eventful first half that tilted Bayern’s way when Choupo-Moting headed home in the 40 minute goal against his former club.

Thomas Mueller set up David Alaba for a first-time shot that Keylor Navas saved. The ball looped up to Choupo-Moting and he headed in.

Bayern’s wingers were a constant menace and PSG’s defenders were relieved to see standout goalkeeper Navas stretch his right hand to keep out Leroy Sane’s dangerous cross deep into injury time.

That was Bayern’s last chance on a night when the usually so prolific German side paid the price for the absence of injured talismanic striker Robert Lewandowski and forward Serge Gnabry, who had tested positive for Covid-19, while PSG managed to live without captain Marquinhos and influential midfielder Marco Verrati.

“Normally, my team has so much quality in the final third, but today they were lacking that final punch. We have to accept that, even though we would have liked a different outcome,” said Bayern coach Hansi Flick who added that he would decide on his future at the club at the end of the season.

Bayern will have to console themselves with trying to win a ninth consecutive Bundesliga title.

“It is not because of tonight that we are eliminated,” said captain Neuer. “We deserved our win here, but the result in Munich was not good enough. It is not all negative. We won the Club World Cup, we have a good chance to win the Bundesliga too, so in the end it will be a positive season.”

TAREMI STUNNER

The cross from the right was curling away from goal at shoulder height when Taremi took off, connecting with a spectacular scissor kick that sent the ball into the top corner from 12 metres out.

A beautiful goal — arguably the best in the Champions League this season — to settle an ugly match wasn’t enough for Porto.

“We played a great game, we showed that we are a great team, but unfortunately my goal wasn’t enough,” said Taremi.

Porto’s Jesus Corona closed down Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy early on but failed to make the most of the keeper’s botched pass. The Mexican winger missed another good chance later in the half when he shuffled past Ben Chilwell in the area only to blast over the crossbar.

Chelsea’s Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic each came close to breaking the deadlock after the interval but the Londoners were more focused on keeping Porto at bay.

The niggly nature of the quarterfinal extended to the sidelines, with Tuchel and Porto manager Sergio Conceicao exchanging words at the final whistle and the Porto coach showing his frustration by cutting short his post-match news conference after questions about the confrontation.

“I’m really frustrated but I’m proud of what we did in both matches,” Conceicao said. “Our performance was very good. We were more of a team than Chelsea. “We just lacked that bit of efficiency.”

Tuchel shrugged it off. He has bigger concerns, firstly an FA Cup semi-final match against Manchester City on Saturday and then a second straight Champions League semi-final on a personal basis. Last year, he was at this stage with PSG and advanced to the final.

Tuchel doesn’t have the star quality of PSG at his disposal at Chelsea, just a young, hard-working squad which is outperforming expectations since he replaced the sacked Frank Lampard in January.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2021