Records tumble as PSG and Bayern Munich make Champions League history: Numbers, stats behind a semifinal classic originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich have each played some of the very best attacking football in Europe this season. As such, their Champions League semifinal showdown was keenly anticipated.
But no one anticipated this, as PSG ran away with a breathless 5-4 victory in the first leg from Paris.
Visitors Bayern opened the scoring through a Harry Kane penalty before finding themselves 2-1 and 5-2 behind on a coruscating night at the Parc des Princes.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia continued a majestic Champions League campaign with a brilliant brace, Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele netted a controversial penalty as part of his own double, and the diminutive Joao Neves powered home a header.
Both teams fought fire with fire throughout, and the Bavarians were far from cooked even three goals down. Bayern centre-back Dayot Upamecano earned some respite with a second-half goal that was sandwiched by efforts from Michael Olise and Luis Diaz, as every starting forward on the pitch came to the party.
All told, PSG head to Munich with a one-goal advantage for next week's return clash, but those are only the bare facts of a historic night.
MORE:Champions League records, history, most goals, top scorers, and more stats from competition history
Dembele's stoppage-time penalty gave Paris Saint-Germain a half-time lead. It also meant this tie had the most goals in the first half of any semifinal in Champions League history.
The final scoreline of 5-4 was also the first time nine goals had been scored in a single semi-final game.
It was also the first European semifinal game in which both teams scored four goals.
You have to go back way beyond the Champions League era to find a European Cup semifinal with nine goals in the game. Eintracht Frankfurt beat Rangers 6-3 to book their place in the 1960 final 12-4 on aggregate. In the showpiece, they were beaten 7-3 by Real Madrid – the sort of final PSG and Bayern might have produced had they been on different sides of the draw.
PSG 5-4 Bayern sits joint fifth in the ranking of all-time highest scoring Champions League matches, as one of 10 matches to produce nine goals.
It is the second nine-goal match in this season's competition, after Barcelona beat Newcastle 7-2 in the second leg of their last-16 encounter.
The next record in the sights of both teams – one that looks very achievable if the first leg is anything to go by – is the record of 13 goals across a two-legged knockout tie.
This has happened twice in semifinals: Inter Milan beat Barcelona 7-6 on aggregate last season, while Liverpool did likewise to Roma in 2018.
12 – Borussia Dortmund 8-4 Legia Warszawa, 22/11/2016 (Matchday 5)
11 – Bayern Munich 9-2 GNK Dinamo, 17/09/2024 (Matchday 1)
11 – Monaco 8-3 Deportivo La Coruña, 05/11/2003 (Matchday 4)
10 – Barcelona 2-8 Bayern Munich, 14/08/2020 (quarter-finals)