PARIS (AP) 鈥� Titleholder Paris Saint-Germain trailed early, led by three goals and ultimately held on for a pulsating 5-4 win over Bayern Munich in the highest-scoring semifinal match in Champions League history on Tuesday.
And there’s still next week’s second leg to come.
PSG built a 5-2 lead early in the second half thanks to two goals each from flying winger and Ousmane Demb茅l茅 at Parc des Princes.
鈥淲e deserved to win, we deserved to lose, we deserved to draw,鈥� PSG coach Luis Enrique said. 鈥淚t was an exceptional match, I have never experienced a match of such intensity as a coach. I have never seen a rhythm like that, it was incredible, you have to congratulate all the players.鈥�
Down by three goals, Bayern fought back brilliantly.
Defender Dayot Upamecano鈥檚 header midway through the second half from Joshua Kimmich鈥檚 free kick gave Bayern hope and Luis D铆az鈥檚 stinging strike made it a one-goal deficit heading into next Wednesday鈥檚 return leg in Munich.
鈥淚 think something special can happen at home, there will be 75,000 people, it will be a hell of an atmosphere,鈥� Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said. 鈥淭he Allianz Arena is a mythical area where Bayern has enjoyed much success.鈥�
Rather than scale back and defend more, Kompany said he was ready to take even more risks.
鈥淭here is no middle ground,鈥� he said. “We will give everything, everything, everything we have. We鈥檙e waiting for them, we want this.鈥�
Kompany and watched from the stands, so assistant Aaron Danks took over on the touchline as Bayern lost for the first time in any competition since Jan. 24.
Harry Kane’s penalty gave Bayern the lead in the 17th minute and Kvaratskhelia equalized soon after for PSG. Midfielder Jo茫o Neves 鈥� who is 5-foot-7 鈥� then headed PSG ahead from a corner.
A dramatic first half saw Michael Olise equalize for Bayern after bursting into the area before Swiss referee Sandro Sch盲rer awarded a penalty for PSG when a video review spotted a handball from Canada defender Alphonso Davies.
PSG’s penalty was contested by Bayern’s players. Davies turned his body to Demb茅l茅鈥檚 right-wing cross but the ball bounced off his hip and hit his arm. Although Davies was turning away from play he failed to keep his hands behind his back.
鈥淭he rules about handball change every week,” Kompany said. 鈥淭he ball hits the body then the hand and you give a penalty, I don鈥檛 agree.鈥�
Demb茅l茅 fired the penalty past Manuel Neuer 鈥� who guessed the right way 鈥� to send PSG ahead 3-2 at the break.
鈥淭wo great teams who attack and don鈥檛 question themselves,鈥� Demb茅l茅 said. “It was an incredible match, but now we go to Munich to qualify. We won鈥檛 change our way of playing, and it will be two teams who attack.鈥�
Bayern started well.
Moments after PSG defender Marquinhos was shown a yellow card for stopping D铆az in his tracks, the left winger earned a penalty when he was fouled by Willian Pacho, and from the spot Kane beat for his 13th goal of the competition 鈥� two behind Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbapp茅 鈥� and 54th goal of another prolific season.
Safonov made a good save moments later from Olise, then Demb茅l茅 missed a one-on-one.
PSG equalized in the 24th when D茅sir茅 Dou茅鈥檚 pass found Kvaratskhelia on the left and the Georgia star cut inside before curling the ball into the bottom right corner for his 10th goal of the competition.
Demb茅l茅 and Dou茅 missed further first half-chances from counterattacks which exposed Bayern鈥檚 tactic of playing with a perilously high defensive line.
The lesson was not heeded in the second half as PSG scored twice from rapid counterattacks.
Kvaratskhelia rifled in a powerful shot in the 56th after running onto a ball across the area that eluded all the defenders and Bayern鈥檚 poor defending was exposed again two minutes later. Dou茅 was given far too much room before feeding Demb茅l茅 on the left, and he scored with a low shot off in the post for a 5-2 lead.
鈥淵ou were standing on the field going 鈥榳hat鈥檚 going on here?鈥� because we definitely weren鈥檛 three goals worse,鈥� Kimmich said. “It was important that we stayed relatively calm.鈥�
But at the end, PSG was struggling and Pacho headed Kimmich鈥檚 looping header off the line with seconds remaining in stoppage time.
鈥淚t was a very, very intense game,鈥� Bayern defender Jonathan Tah told Prime Video. 鈥淲e showed what sort of a team we are, that we can cope with adversity and also with difficult refereeing decisions.鈥�
Luis Enrique was exhausted just watching.
鈥淚鈥檓 so tired, and I didn鈥檛 run a single kilometer,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o I don鈥檛 how the players are feeling.鈥�
He does not expect any respite next week.
鈥淚 just asked my staff 鈥� do you think we will need to win this match?鈥� They said 鈥榤inimum three.’ Bayern Munich in their stadium are even stronger but we will try and show the same mentality.鈥�
Spanish side Atletico Madrid hosts London club Arsenal on Wednesday in the other semifinal first leg. The final will be played in Budapest, Hungary on May 30.
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AP Sports Writer James Ellingworth in D眉sseldorf contributed.
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