‘Pinnacle of art and culture’: Europe’s media on nine-goal PSG-Bayern thriller

Michael Olise (centre in Bayern red) scores one of the nine goals on a breathtaking night in Paris. Photograph: Yoan Valat/EPA

Kicker called it a “football festival at the Parc des Princes”, a “spectacular encounter” where Bayern were nearly overwhelmed but “showed resilience” and “impressive character” to claw back to 5-4 through goals by Dayot Upamecano and Luis Díaz. “Both teams revealed their quality, but also their vulnerabilities,” Kicker reported.

Süddeutsche Zeitung noted the absence of Bayern’s coach, Vincent Kompany, from the touchline – due to suspension – but highlighted his post-match sentiment that “the belief is 100% there” for the return. Bildconcentrated on the rarity of the scoreline, calling it a “wild, wide-open football battle”.

Italian media were in thrall to Kvaratskhelia, with La Gazzetta dello Sportlauding “Kvara” as the standout player, describing his curling finish to level the scores at 1-1 as a “moment of pure magic”. It called the match a “total spectacle. Real football, pure football. Football in its finest essence.”

Corriere dello Sporthailed the game as “football at its absolute peak” but was circumspect about the pell-mell nature of Bayern’s performance, saying it “splits the world in two: on one side, there are those who saw adrenaline, senseless play, a frenetic pace … and those who saw only a game acceptable only on PlayStation”.

In Spain, attention was heaped on the two figures linked with Barcelona, Luis Enrique – who said it was “the best match I have ever coached” – and Dembélé. Marcapraised “a breathtaking 5-4 contest that felt more like an exhibition of attacking brilliance than a battle for a place in the final”. ASflagged the “non-stop drama” and praised Bayern’s “winning mentality and looking ambitiously towards the return leg”.