Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern to reach Champions League final

Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain reached the final of the Champions League for the second time in a row and the third in its history, after coming back with a 1-1 draw from its host Bayern Munich on Wednesday in the second leg of the semi-finals, benefiting from its 5-4 home victory.

Saint-Germain star Ousmane Dembele, who is the winner of the Ballon d'Or in 2025, opened the scoring in the third minute for his team, who managed to maintain their lead until time instead of stoppage, before England's Harren Kane equalised in the final whistle (90+4).

Bayern started the match with a starting line-up that saw the return of Caen, Colombian wingers Luis Diaz and Frenchman Mikael Ulisi, as well as Yuzua Kimmich, Dayo Upamecano and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, compared to Heidenheim's last domestic clash (3-3).

On the other hand, the Spanish coach of the French team, Luis Enrique, relied on only three players who started the last domestic match against Lorient (2-2), namely Ecuadorian defender Willian Pacho, Spanish midfielder Fabian Reuss and winger Désiré Doé, while Moroccan right-back Achraf Hakimi continued to be absent due to injury.

The defending champions did not give their hosts much time, as after a pass from Reuss towards Georgian winger Kvača Kvaratskhelia, the latter started from the left and penetrated the box, before passing a neat cross that Dembele met with a powerful left-footed shot from close range, which settled into the roof of the net (3).

In the final whistle, Kane equalised with a left-footed shot from close range, which settled into the top corner to the right of Safonov (90+4).

Saint-Germain looking for their second title

The French capital, who are looking for a second title in their history, will play in the final with Arsenal, who qualified at the expense of Atletico Madrid of Spain, on Tuesday, in the Hungarian capital Budapest on the 30th of this month.

The draw is the first in a head-to-head encounter between the two teams, who have previously faced each other 17 times,  with 9 wins for Bayern and eight for Saint-Germain, who played their first final in the competition in 2020 and lost to the Bavarian giants 1-0.

Reaching the final is a new chapter in Saint-Germain's success this season, after winning the European Super Cup, the Intercontinental Cup, and the French Super Cup, knowing that they lead the domestic league by 6 points from their chaser Lens 3  stages before its end, waiting to face them on the 13th of this month.

On the other hand, Belgian coach Vincent Kompany's team will look to add the German Cup title against defending champions Stuttgart on January 23 to the league title, to compensate for the disappointment of European elimination.

Clear hand touch

The match witnessed  a controversial refereeing case in the 31st minute, which raised wide objections from the Bavarian team's players and fans.

The shot came when Vitinha sent a high ball inside his team's penalty area, and it collided with the hand of his teammate Joao Neves, prompting Bayern players to demand a penalty for a hand touch.

However, Portuguese referee Joao Pinheiro refused to count the foul, citing the continuation of play, a decision that was met with great anger in the stands of the Allianz Arena.

Why didn't a penalty count?

Returning to the rules of the International Federation of Football Association (IFAB) for the 2025-2026 season, this situation is not considered a violation for most of the time, for several obvious reasons in the text of the law:

First, the ball came directly from teammate Vitinha and was relatively close, which meant that Joao Neves didn't have enough time to react or avoid it, which drops the element of "intentionality".

Second, the rules distinguish between the natural position of the hand and the abnormal enlargement of the body, and in such cases, if the hand is in a normal position and the player does not make an additional movement towards the ball, a hand touch does not count.

Third, the official interpretation states that if the ball touches a player's hand coming directly from his teammate, it is considered a violation unless the arm is in an unjustified position or there is clear intention.