MY ACCOUNT
Bayern Munich were indebted to Matthijs de Ligt’s heroics against Paris Saint-Germain and Yann Sommer offered the centre-back a sweet reward for his pivotal Champions League intervention.
Julian Nagelsmann’s side recorded a 3-0 aggregate triumph in the last-16 on Wednesday after Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry secured a 2-0 second-leg triumph at Allianz Arena.
However, PSG should have twice restored parity in the tie in the first half as Alphonso Davies thwarted Lionel Messi from close range before De Ligt cleared off the line with Vitinha firing at an open goal.
The latter chance came from an inexplicable Sommer error as he squandered possession inside his own area and the goalkeeper joked a deserved treat will await for De Ligt’s last-ditch efforts.
“I will leave a truck filled with Swiss chocolate on his doorstep!,” Sommer said on DAZN, before attempting to explain his error.
“The problem was, I had my solution to pass to [Josip] Stanisic but it was closed, then I had no more solution,” he added.
“It was unbelievable what De Ligt was doing there, of course, I’m not happy with [my part] in the scene.
“It’s amazing how he thinks and saves me. If that goes wrong, then this game looks very different.”
De Ligt’s hooked clearance at full stretch proved the difference as Bayern kept a fourth straight clean sheet in the Champions League, their longest run in the competition without conceding.
While Sommer hailed his centre-back team-mate, Gianluigi Donnarumma was left to rue a “disappointing” performance as PSG were dumped out at the last-16 stage in Europe for a second straight term.
“There’s a lot of disappointment in the dressing room,” the Italy international told Canal Plus.
“In the Champions League, the small details make the difference. We could have done better in the first half, we didn’t. We’re all annoyed and disappointed.”
