Bayern Munich’s goal houses one of the modern legends of the game and one of the greatest goalkeepers. At 39 he is still kicking on with a finesse that can only belong to him. In a big UCL night against PSG, Neuer dropped another fantastic performance, even drawing praise from the opposition winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
With a red card to Luis Diaz in the first half, Bayern had to hold a 0-2 lead for 45 minutes with a man down. Despite playing wonderfully in the first half, Bayern had to take on a much more withdrawn and compact approach for the second. This allowed PSG plenty of free space and opportunities to shoot.
Manuel Neuer had to tackle a busy night due to the change in dynamic. His shot stopping duties that went up significantly were paired with Neuer’s exceptional distribution ability. Despite being under an aggressive PSG press, Neuer did not let the pressure get to him. He was seen calmly hitting ground passes and almost always found his target. What a player!
Having to deal with an increasingly pestering PSG side that was desperate for an equalizer, Neuer eventually took to the long ball route that saw his passing efficiency drop. Having to boot the ball to avoid threats and with a man down, Bayern were spread too thin to be able to receive Neuer’s long passes consistently. Corners, shots from outside the box, lobbed passes, Neuer truly held his nerve to see off a precarious situation in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Assisted bravely by his backline and the rest of the team, Neuer also made a few crucial diving saves against the PSG’s attackers. It was a display of an all-round goalkeeping performance that saw him deservedly win the player of the match award.
Respect from the defending champions
The Parisian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a few appreciative words for the Bayern goalie. “For me, he’s a legend of the sport. It’s always special to play against him” said the PSG man(as captured by @iMiaSanMia).
PSG took a total of 25 shots with 9 of them being on target. With 19 of those shots coming in the second half, it was the combination of Bayern’s resilience and Neuer’s brilliance that helped the six time UCL champs to come out of this game with all three points. “Bayern are very strong. Even with ten men, they defended well against us. We still had our chances, but it wasn’t enough. Nevertheless, the season is still long” added Khvicha, underlining the character showed by Bayern.
Bayern Munich pulled out a wild 2-1 victory in a game that will be talked about quite a bit. So, why don’t we kick it off. This is what we have on tap for this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show:
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