On match day four of the ongoing 2025/26 European Champions League, Bayern Munich visited the Parc des Princes Stadium in France to take on the reigning Champions of Europe- Paris Saint-Germain.
The German Champions hit the ground running on Tuesday and took the lead just four minutes into the game when Luiz Diaz fired in from 12 yards after Michael Olise’s initial attempt was blocked by the goalkeeper. The Colombian international seemed intent on being the one-man wrecking crew that would bring down the French capital when, just past the half-hour mark, he nicked the ball off PSG’s captain, Marquinhos, to smash home his and Bayern’s second goal on the night.
However, in the added time of the first half, Diaz went from star man to villain when he was shown the red card for a reckless challenge on PSG’s right-back Achraf Hakimi.
Despite playing the entire second half with 10 men, Bayern conceded only one goal and held on for the statement victory. Let’s look at three players who helped Bayern defy the odds in Paris.
Manuel Neuer
With the home team attempting to lay siege to the Bayern goal in the second half, Manuel Neuer recorded an amazing 59 touches and covered 6.3 km. In doing so, the 39-year-old goalkeeper was near invincible on Tuesday night. Neuer made eight saves against PSG.
In the first half, he denied Bradley Barcola an equalizer from just meters out. Although Neuer was beaten once after the half-time interval, he stood tall and made himself big on numerous occasions and superbly marshalled his defensive troops. He pulled off seven saves in the second half, three of which were from shots inside the box. Neuer also performed his trademark sweeper-keeper routine on two occasions.
The veteran German goalkeeper needed to be at his best on Tuesday, and he was. Neuer led by example for his team to ultimately withstand the man advantage that PSG enjoyed for the entire second half.