Bayern Munich put themselves in pole position to reach the Champions League quarterfinals, with Kingsley Coman scoring against his former club in a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their heavyweight round of 16 tie.
The German champions dominated the majority of the contest against their lacklustre hosts. And they grabbed the only goal through Coman’s 53rd minute volley that Gianluigi Donnarumma allowed to squeeze through his grasp.
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Coman had also scored the only goal to give Bayern victory when the two sides met in the 2020 final in Lisbon.
Kylian Mbappe was only fit enough to come off the bench for the French champions but still found the net twice, only for both to be ruled out for offside as PSG came to life in the closing stages.
Bayern finished the game with 10 men after Benjamin Pavard was shown a second yellow card in stoppage time but had enough to hang on and grab a crucial advantage away from home.
After their third loss in a row in all competitions, PSG will need to produce a much-improved performance in the return leg in Munich in three weeks’ time if they are to avoid their wait for a first Champions League title extending for another year.
PSG were boosted by the return to the starting lineup of Lionel Messi after he missed their 3-1 loss to Monaco on Saturday. But without Mbappe, Galtier handed a start to 16-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery to become the youngest player ever to begin a Champions League knockout game.
From the opening whistle, Bayern assumed control, dominating possession with PSG struggling desperately to get hold of the ball and even get out of their own half at times.
Against PSG’s flat 4-4-2, Bayern looked far more fluid with three at the back and lone striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting getting ample support, both from out wide — from Joao Cancelo and Coman — and through the middle — from Leon Goretzka, Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala.
The only thing missing from the visitors’ first-half play was a real threat on the PSG goal. Donnarumma made just one save of note in the first period, when just before half-time he got down well to save a low shot from Joshua Kimmich after the ball fell to him just outside the penalty box.
But the French champions were also grateful for some switched-on defending from Sergio Ramos and Nuno Mendes to prevent clear efforts on goal.
PSG had just one shot at goal in the first half, spurring Galtier into a half-time change with Presnel Kimpembe replacing Achraf Hakimi to match Bayern’s back three.
Yet it was Bayern’s half-time substitute who made an almost immediate impact to bring about the opening goal.
Eight minutes after coming on for Cancelo, Alphonso Davies whipped in a deep cross from the left and Coman was left completely free at the back post to side-foot a low volley that Donnarumma should have done better with.
Having come through the youth setup at PSG, the French winger opted not to celebrate his effort, even as his teammates jumped for joy around him.
There was no surprise when Galtier almost immediately turned to Mbappe off the bench to make his first appearance since suffering a hamstring strain two weeks ago.
But, initially expected to be out for three weeks, Mbappe did not look like his usual explosive self. And the action continued to be concentrated in the PSG half.
Donnarumma redeemed himself for his effort on the goal with two impressive saves, the first an exceptional one to turn a close-range shot from Choupo-Moting onto the post and then keeping out a Matthijs de Ligt header.
Then finally PSG came to life with Mbappe still offering enough to give them the type of attacking threat they had so lacked.
First the France forward was denied by Yann Sommer as he ran through on goal before he was ruled to be offside after putting a rebound from Neymar‘s follow-up into the net.
The Parc des Princes thought the equaliser had arrived with eight minutes remaining when Mbappe converted a cut-back from Mendes. But, by the smallest margin, a VAR check found Mendes to have been just offside in the buildup.
