YES
Yes, of course yes! Who didn’t thrill to this legendary PSG-Bayern, punctuated by 9 goals? Nobody, except perhaps a few cautious tacticians who will point out defensive deficiencies. But the offensive tornado that we have witnessed is assumed by the two coaches, Luis Enrique and Vincent Kompany, who accept the structural imbalance with the aim of destabilizing the opposing team. And that’s what we’re celebrating this Wednesday, this desire to defeat the opponent through play, always play.
We therefore saw an unprecedented display of energy, by the admission of the coaches and players at the end of the match, races in all directions, fabulous goals, offensive players at the top (Dembélé, Kvaratskhelia, Diaz, Olise, Kane) and a rare intensity. Seeing the best goalkeeper in the world, Manuel Neuer, concede 5 goals, world-class defenders being pushed around (Nuno Mendes against Olise in the first period) is not usual and says everything about the madness of the match.
Everyone agreed before the match that it was a clash between the two best European teams of the season, and everyone was hoping for a quality match. So it would have been easy to be disappointed, but the opposite happened. Two teams who produce the game without ever stopping, a remarkable dramaturgy with teams who surrender blow by blow, and an incandescent atmosphere.
Have we ever seen better than this? No, and the majority think so, as the survey below demonstrates. It’s not just in France either, since the Yes vote also wins in England in a poll of Skysportsup to 61%. Let’s hope that the FIFA pundits watched the match, and will put their most eccentric ideas in the back of their cupboard to dust off a football that has become supposedly boring. That’s football!
Image generation in progress
NO
No, we are not here to be sour on duty, and no one denies the quality and beauty of the show offered Tuesday evening by the two teams. But the most beautiful match in history? The competition is still immense. First of all, this is a first leg match, and there is not the drama of a second leg match, with a happy qualifier and a disappointed elimination. Everything remains to be done, and in this context, the return match could surpass, at this level, the intensity of the first leg.
The Champions League has offered so many epic matches, so many twists and turns, so many emotions that it seems impossible to make this PSG-Bayern the greatest match in history. What can we say about the comeback then, the craziest turnaround in the Champions League? The memory is necessarily less pleasant for Parisian supporters, but the 6-1 of March 8, 2017, the three goals scored from the 88th minute, is almost incomparable, even if marred by questionable refereeing decisions. What can also be said about the legendary final between AC Milan and Liverpool, and the fantastic comeback of the Reds in the second half (3-3)?
In terms of quality of play, the Champions League very regularly offers a great spectacle, between the fittest teams on the continent. The spectacle offered by Ajax Amsterdam on Real’s pitch in 2019 with an unexpected 4-1 victory, the crazy comeback of Tottenham against the same Ajax the same year with Lucas Moura’s hat-trick, the Liverpool-Barcelona of the same year, again, with the 4-0 in the semi-final return, or more recently the exceptional double confrontation in the semi-final last season between Inter and Barça… So many matches which have entered the legend of the C1, just like the many crazy scenarios signed by Real Madrid in 2022, against PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City.
To qualify PSG-Bayern Munich as the best match in history is perhaps to move quickly, to react quickly, to forget that defenders and goalkeepers can also arouse admiration (Donnarumma and Sommer last season). PSG-Bayern is the offensive bonus, the absolute respect shown by the two coaches to their principles, the desire to dominate their opponent through play, the rabid quest for victory, without a doubt. And that’s already not bad!
