Paris Saint-Germain are at increasing risk of missing out on the Champions League knockout stages after losing with ten men away to Bayern Munich.
It was a night for forget for Ousmane Dembele who was sent off for two yellow cards and also extended his record of most shots in the Champions League this season without scoring.
Russia goalkeeper Matvey Safonov was caught out by the corner from which Kim Min-jae scored the opening goal and while he pulled off a great save from Jamal Musiala in the second-half to keep the score at 1-0, PSG never found a way to get level.
The result leaves PSG in 26th spot and Bayern 11th after five rounds, with the top eight qualifying automatically, the next 16 entering a play-off and the final eight eliminated.
Here The Athletic’s Oliver Kay, Sebastian Stafford Bloor and Anantaajith Raghuraman break down the key talking points.
Are PSG really going to be eliminated?
Could Paris Saint-Germain miss out on the Champions League knockout stage altogether? The new format offers margin for error, but the French champions are in big trouble, having lost three and won just one of their first five games in the league phase.
PSG had only a 3 per cent chance of finishing in the top eight before the game and defeat in Munich left them 26th in the 36-team standings, just ahead of Shakhtar Donetsk, Sparta Prague and Girona, and desperately needing something from their final three games: away to RB Salzburg on December 10 and then they play Manchester City (home) and Stuttgart (away) in December in January.
In a format where eight teams progress automatically to the knock-out stage and another 16 progress to a play-off round, it seemed almost inconceivable that one of Europe’s big guns could finish in the bottom 12, but PSG are in genuine danger. There were elements of the second-half performance that might have encouraged coach Luis Enrique, but their lack of goals in this competition (three in five games) is a real concern.
Oliver Kay
Is Kimmich Bayern’s captain in waiting?
This was a timely performance from Joshua Kimmich, who was at the root of almost everything Bayern did well. Timely, because Kimmich’s contract is due to expire in the summer and he and the club are still trying to reach an agreement over an extension. This week, Max Eberl, the club’s board member for sport, described the situation:
“I think we are very, very open with him,” Eberl told Sport Bild.
“We’ve told him that we want to extend his contract. We are telling him that he should become captain when Manuel Neuer is no longer on the pitch. And we tell him that he should be the face of our club. We’ve made that clear to him and we stand behind it.”
No wonder, because Kimmich was everything Bayern needed him to be this evening. One of the criticisms of him is that he does not do enough with the ball when he plays in midfield. That he is a neat passer, but not a true orchestrator — and there is merit to that argument sometimes.
But Kimmich was particularly dynamic with the ball against PSG, starting moves but thereafter providing the stability in his own half to allow them to develop safely. His role under Kompany has certainly broadened. Playing back in midfield naturally extends his influence, but he seems so often to be both the start point for moves and also the out-ball for teammates who are caught deep in their own half and put under pressure.
A captain’s performance, even if he’s not wearing the armband yet.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
Was Dembele unlucky or bad or both?
Ousmane Dembele’s individual performance was emblematic of a team who have potential but aren’t doing things right.
With Alphonso Davies pushing forward and even inverting at times for Bayern, Dembele received multiple opportunities to bear down on goal down PSG’s right. His first involvement came eight minutes in after a Bayern error seemed to send him through, but he dawdled on the ball and Leon Goretzka slid in to block his effort.
Dembele got his and PSG’s first shot on target in the 20th minute after another Bayern giveaway, but his effort from the edge of the box was comfortably pouched by Manuel Neuer. Another break followed 12 minutes later, with Fabian Ruiz’s reverse pass finding Dembele, who wrestled with Kim before firing a left-footed shot from an acute angle that Neuer palmed away.
Frustrating, but PSG simply needed to hang on until the break. Then came the sequence that defined the game.
As both teams set up for a Bayern corner, Dembele repeatedly debated with referee Istvan Kovacs on the legitimacy of the set-piece being awarded, getting himself booked. The initial corner was cleared out for another, which PSG goalkeeper Matvei Safonov flapped at to allow Kim to score in the 38th minute.
PSG looked refreshed after the break, with their pressing limiting Bayern to unsuccessful counterattacks. Dembele was involved in their bid for an equalizer, sending a couple of teasing crosses into the box as well. However, that positive start was disrupted by Dembele receiving a second yellow card in the 56th minute after sliding into win the ball off Davies. 
Replays showed that the Frenchman did get his boot on the ball, but with VAR unable to review second yellow cards, Dembele was dismissed, leaving PSG to play over half an hour with 10 men with their Champions League campaign on the line.
The dismissal will be disappointing, but this was another missed opportunity for Dembele, who holds the envious record of recording the most shots without a goal in this season’s Champions League (21).
Anantaajith Raghuraman
Why doesn’t Luis Enrique pick a centre-forward?
“We need 20 clear chances to score,” Enrique lamented after his team’s 2-1 defeat by Atletico Madrid three weeks ago, which makes it all the stranger that he continues to operate without a specialist centre-forward.
Goncalo Ramos is not yet match-fit after an ankle injury, but the continued exclusion of Randal Kolo Muani is mystifying, with Enrique preferring to field Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola as wide forwards and leave the central area vacant for long periods of the first half.
It wasn’t a horses-for-courses selection. Kolo Muani has started more games for France this season (five) than for his club (two). He has not started a game for PSG since Enrique substituted him at half-time during a a 1-1 draw with Nice.
After Dembele was sent off for a second bookable offence, it was Ramos who was summoned from the bench to replace Barcola with 19 minutes remaining. That didn’t work either. There is logic in going without a specialist centre-forward, but it requires an element of control in midfield or, failing that, a direct, incisive edge in attack. On this occasion, PSG had none of the above.
Oliver Kay
What was the Al-Khelaifi banner displayed by Bayern fans?
Bayern’s ultras came prepared for the occasion — the specific game and the broader conflict. In the first half, they unveiled a banner aimed directly at Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the PSG president.
“Football C’est moi? F*** off plutocratic Al-Khelaifi!”
On a separate banner, hoisted a few rows behind:
“Minister, club owner, TV rights holder, UEFA ExCo member and ECA chairman all in one!”
The banners held up by Bayern fans (Photo: Tom Weller/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Within that franglaise, the inference by the ultras is that Al-Khelaifi holds too much power in the game. Or that he holds too much authority within organisations that, in a few cases, theoretically overlap with one another.
It’s a hard charge to refute. Al-Khelaifi is the president of the BeIN media group, a Champions League broadcaster. He is also, as the banner makes references to, a force within both UEFA’s executive committee and the European Club Association — European football’s policy maker and its organisation of member clubs respectively.
Paris Saint-Germain have not responded to a request for comment on the banners from The Athletic. And, as is UEFA protocol, the governing body will wait for reports from the match before considering any action.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
What did Luis Enrique say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What did Vincent Kompany say?
We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.
What next for PSG?
Saturday, November 30: Nantes (H), Ligue 1, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
What next for Bayern?
Saturday, November 30: Borussia Dortmund (A), Bundesliga, 5.30pm UK, 12.30pm ET
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(Top photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
