Champions League: Title-holders PSG edge Bayern Munich to reach second straight final

Ousmane Dembélé scored early and Paris Saint-Germain eliminated Bayern Munich with a 1-1 draw to reach the Champions League final again on Wednesday.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia raced clear after playing a simple one-two with Fabián Ruiz in midfield, then picked out the unmarked Dembélé to sweep the ball in under the crossbar in the third minute of the semifinal second leg.

It gives PSG, the defending champion, a 6-5 lead on aggregate after edging their encounter 5-4 in the first leg in Paris last week.

Bayern complained that the already-booked Nuno Mendes should have been booked again when the ball hit his arm, and there were more protests when Vitinha struck teammate João Neves’ arm with the ball in the penalty area with a clearance.

Jonathan Tah went closest for Bayern with a header wide before the break.

The winner will face Arsenal in the final in Budapest, Hungary, on May 30, after the Gunners defeated Atletico Madrid 1-0 on Tuesday to progress 2-1 on aggregate.

PSG and Bayern were the top-scoring sides in the competition with 43 and 42 goals before Wednesday’s game, respectively.

The German club has won five of its last seven meetings with PSG in Munich, and is going for a repeat of the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup treble of titles that it won in 2020 and 2013.

But PSG has good memories of Munich. The city was the scene of PSG’s triumph in the final last season when it demolished Inter Milan 5-0 to fulfill its Qatari owners’ quest to become European champion for the first time. A relatively unchanged team has been charged with delivering the second title.

FRANCE24 with AFP, AP