PARIS (AP) 鈥� 鈥淭hought you鈥檇 seen it all in football? Never a game like this!鈥�
That line in German news magazine Der Spiegel was just one of many attempts around Europe to sum up the back-and-forth action of in the first leg of their Champions League final.
鈥淎 match for the history books,鈥� wrote Spanish newspaper As.
In Britain, The Sun called it 鈥淕ame of the Century.鈥�
In France, former defender Bixente Lizarazu, who won the 1998 World Cup with France and the 2001 Champions League with Bayern, was particularly impressed with the first half of the game. PSG led 3-2 at the break, making it the first Champions League semifinal to feature five goals before halftime.
鈥淚t was like boxing,鈥� Lizarazu said. 鈥淓ach side took punches and was able to respond. The intensity was incredibly high.鈥�
Not only the retired players were watching. Manchester City striker Erling Haaland was also full of praise, posting on social media a picture of the game with the caption: 鈥淭his is football.鈥�
PSG has now scored 43 goals in this Champions League campaign. Only Barcelona has managed more in a season, netting 45 in 1999-2000.
鈥淲e鈥檒l see how it plays out, but with so much talent, anything can happen,鈥� Lizarazu said, looking ahead to next week鈥檚 second leg in Munich.
But for all the attacking quality on display, some were less impressed by the defending.
鈥淎sk the goalkeepers if they’re happy,鈥� former Netherlands midfielder Clarence Seedorf said on Amazon Prime. 鈥淭here needs to be a balance. I am all in favor of, when you have the ball, to play attacking football … but you also need to have the balanced defending.鈥�
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