Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 FC Bayern München
Goals: Desire Doue (78), Ousmane Dembele (90+6)
Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele fired nine-man Paris Saint-Germain into the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ semi-finals after an astonishing and enthralling quarter-final clash with fellow European heavyweights FC Bayern München.
The opening goal of an end-to-end, high-tempo affair in Atlanta came in the 78th minute. Harry Kane was robbed of possession in midfield before Joao Neves found Doue, who drove a low left-foot shot home from the edge of the box as Manuel Neuer momentarily slipped on his line.
PSG lost both Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez to straight reds for challenges on Leon Goretzka and Raphael Guerreiro respectively, yet despite their numerical disadvantage hit the bar through Dembele as Bayern pressed for a leveller.
The France international then secured PSG’s last-four spot deep into stoppage time, finishing superbly after some outstanding approach play on the right by Achraf Hakimi.
Bayern did have the ball in the net through Kane when they were 1-0 down, but he had strayed offside before heading home, while Vincent Kompany’s men had a very late penalty awarded and then rescinded after referee Anthony Taylor was called to the screen to review his initial decision by the VAR team.
In an action-packed first period, both Neuer and Gianluigi Donnarumma were called into action to repel efforts from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Michael Olise, respectively, while Kane headed over and Fabian Ruiz blazed high and wide when well placed.
The half was brought to an abrupt and concerning conclusion, though, as Jamal Musiala suffered what appeared to be a serious leg injury after colliding with Donnarumma, with players from both sides clearly affected by the gravity of the incident.
PSG had a great chance to move ahead with 48 minutes gone when Bradley Barcola was played in by Kvaratskhelia, but Neuer repelled the youngster’s attempt.
The chances continued to come, with Kingsley Coman spurning one Bayern breakthrough with a routine shot at the goalkeeper before Olise fired over Donnarumma’s bar. Neuer was then inches away from being embarrassed by the PSG press outside his box as Kvaratskhelia and substitute Dembele swarmed over him, with the latter’s resulting shot going inches wide of the goal.
It was left to teenage sensation Doue to steal the headlines once again, following his brace in PSG’s UEFA Champions League final triumph earlier this year, with the final moments of the match bringing unrelenting action with two red cards, Dembele’s goal and the overturned penalty.
PSG now move on to face either Real Madrid C. F. or Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals at MetLife Stadium in New York New Jersey on Wednesday, 9 July.
Quotes
“It was a highly intense match with many duels. That’s part of football — matches like that require you to fight hard on the pitch. We demonstrated great spirit once again today. Winning was the most important thing. We previously lost to them at the start of the season, so getting our revenge was also crucial. Today’s victory made us very happy.”
Desire Doue, PSG winger
“Red cards are always small mistakes that we need to fix. They’re details that really make a difference. When you have one more player or one less, it changes a lot of things. After the red cards, I looked at my team-mates. I saw everyone saying that we would defend until the end. At that moment, I was sure we were going to win this match.”
Marquinhos, PSG captain
“Those were two top teams. In the end, matches like that are decided by small moments. Those moments didn’t go our way, and that’s how you lose a game. We never gave up, and I kept believing until the final whistle that we could score the equaliser.”
Konrad Laimer, Bayern München midfielder
“This game had everything. We played well and put up a great fight. Playing well doesn’t buy you anything in football. We were so focused on reaching the next round, and now having to pack our bags is really tough to accept.”
Thomas Muller, Bayern München midfielder
Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Match
Desire Doue (Paris Saint-Germain)
