(REUTERS)

Nine goals, high-flying collective moves, individual flashes of brilliance, and a breathtaking pace: the entire world witnessed an absolute masterpiece with this Paris Saint-Germain vs. Bayern Munich Champions League semifinal first leg. An ode to soccer that presents quite surprising statistics.

Proof of the attackers' extreme quality on the field: the efficiency rate was impressive, with XG lower than the scoreline suggests (1.98 for Paris compared to 2.63 for Bayern).

If we look at the overall match statistics, the "clash of the heavyweights" was rather dominated by Bayern, which had slightly higher possession (54% to 46%) and more completed passes (491 against 390).

On the other hand, Paris Saint-Germain showed a rather bluffing adaptability, with an ability to respond to problems perhaps superior to its opponent. Although dominated in ball possession, the capital club launched lightning counterattacks and shot more than its opponent (13 shots to 10). Bayern, however, had a higher rate of shots on target (6 vs 7).

The second leg will therefore be fascinating to follow tactically, with the Bavarians likely to be even more aggressive in their territorial pressing and leave spaces behind them.

Wayne Rooney Blasts PSG-Bayern Defending

The former Manchester United and England legend, Wayne Rooney, did not mince his words while talking about this match.

"Both teams have so much quality up front that they probably forget to defend a bit. When PSG leads 5-2, Luis Enrique should have said: close up the game, make life hard for the opponent. But no, they went looking for more goals. Some goals are elementary school goals. At this level, we saw brilliance, but also immature defending, which is crazy," he said, via Amazon Prime.