The unthinkable has happened against PSG! Vincent Kompany's Bayern Munich were caught completely off guard by this setback

Debates about potentially overly risky defensive strategies seemed to bounce off the key players from both teams. Instead, they repeated like a mantra that they had no intention of deviating from their approach. Better to emphasise their strengths than dwell on weaknesses. In the meantime, PSG drew 2-2 with FC Lorient in the league and Bayern Munich drew 3-3 with 1. FC Heidenheim in the Bundesliga; for the Munich side, it marked the end of a week in which they had conceded eleven goals in three matches.

So, what if they ship two, three or even four again in the return leg against PSG? Simple: they'll just have to bang in three, four or five—goalscoring, they insist, is the last thing they worry about. That was the Bavarians' mantra after the first-leg defeat. In that light, Ousmane Dembélé's early 0-1 strike was little more than a minor jolt. Just another deficit to erase—bring on the goals. Here we go again! Bayern now needed at least two, and the only question was: when would the first one come?

Yet the minutes ticked by: the score remained 0-1 in the seventh minute, the ninth, half-time and even after 90 minutes. Only deep in injury time did Harry Kane finally head the equaliser—late, and too late. Bayern were eliminated from the Champions League.

Joshua Kimmich was asked afterwards what the Munich side had been lacking in this second leg. "Goals," he replied. An obvious answer, yet for FC Bayern in recent months it has been a surprising problem because it is entirely new. That Munich might fail because they concede too many goals is one thing. But failing because they score too few? Unthinkable. 

Michael Olise, Harry Kane and Luis Diaz had recently been finding the net with clockwork regularity; Uli Hoeneß might have been handing out apple pie at the same rate. One week it was a new Bundesliga goalscoring record, the next it was the 100-goal mark tumbling. Overall, Bayern had racked up 175 goals in 52 competitive matches—an average of well over three per game. 

Yet in the biggest game of the season, the Bavarians failed to find the net. It was only the fourth time this term they had scored fewer than two goals, and the first time in eleven matches. "We simply weren't clinical enough today," said goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. "We weren't sharp enough up front."

After taking an early lead, PSG understandably adopted a more tactical approach, dropping deeper and looking to hit Bayern on the break. Yet their counter-attacks either lacked the final ball or were smothered by the outstanding Neuer. Meanwhile, Bayern laid siege to the visitors' penalty area, enjoying plenty of possession and growing ever more furious—and desperate—after a series of controversial refereeing decisions.

Time and again, Luis Diaz, Michael Olise and Jamal Musiala drove forward, but their final balls or shots lacked precision. PSG conceded attempts, yet almost none from genuinely dangerous angles. Bayern's 18 shots added up to an xG value of only 1.4, underlining their lack of clear-cut opportunities. Striker Harry Kane held the ball up well and grew increasingly frustrated before finally scoring late on, yet he never truly threatened.

"We didn't have many really clear-cut chances where we could say: 'That's a 100 per cent chance'," Neuer analysed. The best opportunities fell to Olise (27') and Jonathan Tah (45'+3). PSG manager Vincent Kompany praised his side's "incredible defending of crosses and the space behind the defence", while sporting director Max Eberl admitted, "We hardly ever had time to find space. When we did, we were immediately back in the box and forcing them back. Yet even there, they defended perfectly."

In the end, Luis Enrique reached a verdict mirroring Bayern's self-assessment: "Today, our defence was better than our attack." That disciplined rearguard performance means PSG will enter the final against Arsenal as even stronger favourites than if they had relied on another offensive showcase.