Bayern Munich upset PSG as Diaz scores twice in Champions League | Football news

Bayern Munich moved to the top of the league standings with a road win over reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain.

Bayern Munich have underlined their status as UEFA Champions League favorites with 16 wins from 16 games this season, with Luis Diaz scoring twice to beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 away and being shown a red card.

The Colombia winger struck twice on Tuesday before sending off Achraf Hakimi for a violent tackle on the stroke of half-time.

PSG, who reduced the arrears through Joao Neves, dominated possession after the break but failed to make it fully count and slumped to their first defeat in the competition since the second leg of last season’s quarter-final against Aston Villa.

The result leaves Bayern third in the 36-team league with 12 points, three points behind PSG, and further concerns with injury concerns following the early substitutions of Hakimi and Ousmane Dembele.

“Most importantly I hope it’s not too bad for Hakimi. We went with (Jamal) Musiala in America (at the Club World Cup against PSG),” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany told a news conference.

“I tell the players when there’s some hype, don’t believe it. We’ve won 16, but from tomorrow it’s back to zero. Nobody’s won the Champions League today.”

His PSG counterpart, Luis Enrique, echoed this view, saying: “Today’s position means nothing. What matters is February, March, April, May.”

“Losing at home is always difficult. We need to assert ourselves and play well. We faced a well-organized team, especially physically. We couldn’t continue our game,” PSG captain Marquinhos said.

“There are still some positives to take from this match. The team is ambitious, but we have to do better. They were outclassed by us. We were in the lead in the second half, but that was after the red card.”

Ten-man Bayern held on for a dramatic victory

Dembele made his first Champions League start of the season, but his night was short-lived, with the France forward replaced by Lee Kang-in after 25 minutes.

PSG, who beat Bayern 2-0 in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup in July, came out flying with their trademark high pressure but were caught cold in the fourth minute after Diaz’s effort from Michael Olis was turned back by Lucas Chevalier.

Dembele thought he had equalized midway through the half, only to have his goal disallowed for offside as PSG pressed but looked unusually fragile at the back.

Moments later, Manuel Neuer pulled off a spectacular save to deny Bradley Barco, who ran onto Fabian Ruiz’s long ball.

Bayern stayed one step ahead and after Serge Gnabry hit the post, Diaz pounced on a sleepy Marquinhos to steal the ball in the 32nd minute and slot home a second.

Diaz’s evening ended abruptly just before half-time when he was shown a straight red card for a brutal lunge on Hakimi, who was limping off with an ankle injury.

The second half saw a long spell of possession for PSG, but the hosts were not lacking in sophistication until the 74th minute when substitute Neves reduced the arrears with a spectacular scissor kick from Lee’s cross.

Neves came close to equalizing with a header minutes later as PSG piled on the pressure. Despite a late flurry from the hosts, Bayern held on.