PSG looked set to go into the interval level until VAR intervened, awarding a controversial first-half stoppage-time penalty for handball. Ousmane Dembélé stepped up and slotted the spot-kick home to give the hosts a 3–2 lead at the break.
The second half remained frenetic: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia stretched the advantage to 4–2 in the 56th minute, and Dembélé soon completed his brace by beating Manuel Neuer at the near post. Bayern refused to wilt, and in the 65th minute Upamecano pulled one back to make it 3–5. Four minutes later Diaz lashed in the ninth goal of the night to narrow the gap to 4–5. The record for goals in a Champions League semi-final now stood at nine, yet the French side hung on for a slender lead until the final whistle.
The tie will be settled next Wednesday when PSG travel to Munich for the second leg; the winner will face either Arsenal or Atlético Madrid in the Budapest final at the end of May.
World Cup winner Christoph Kramer, analysing the game forGerman TV, marvelled: “I’ve never seen a match like this. With all that space, it could have ended 9–9.”