PSG beats Bayern as Musiala suffers serious injury
Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the FIFA Club World Cup quarter-finals despite going down to nine men in a match that was overshadowed by a serious injury to Jamal Musiala.
Musiala was carried off after hurting his left leg in a collision with Gianluigi Donnarumma late in the first half, with players on both sides appearing distressed by the injury, which saw Musiala's ankle twisted into at an unnatural angle.
Desire Doue put PSG ahead 12 minutes from time, but both Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez received late red cards to put its position under threat.
However, Luis Enrique's European champion got the clinching goal through substitute Ousmane Dembele, as PSG teed up a semi-final showdown with either Real Madrid or Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern thought it had the lead when Dayot Upamecano nodded Michael Olise's free-kick into the bottom-left corner in first-half stoppage-time, but the assistant referee's flag was swiftly raised, with that decision confirmed by the video assistant referee (VAR).
Seconds before the half-time whistle, Bayern suffered a monumental blow as Musiala collided with Donnarumma and sustained a nasty injury to his lower left leg, with the PSG goalkeeper visibly shaken after the incident.
His opposite number, Manuel Neuer, made a fine one-on-one save from Bradley Barcola to kickstart an eventful second half, although the goalkeeper later got away with a terrible touch as Dembele rolled wide of an open goal.
However, Neuer was unsighted in the 78th minute as Doue hit a low shot through a crowd of bodies and into the net.
PSG had to survive a late wave of pressure as Pacho scraped his studs down Leon Goretzka's leg and substitute Hernandez caught Raphael Guerreiro with a flailing elbow, with referee Anthony Taylor brandishing straight red cards to both players.
Harry Kane had a header disallowed for offside as Bayern pressed for a leveller, but moments after striking the crossbar on a lightning break, Dembele swept Achraf Hakimi's clever cutback home to double PSG's advantage.
Bayern thought it had a lifeline deep into 11 minutes of stoppage-time, with Taylor pointing to the penalty spot when Nuno Mendes challenged Thomas Muller near the goal line with a high boot.
However, that decision was reversed when a VAR review showed the left-back did not make contact with his opponent, dashing Bayern's hopes.
PSG has now won each of its past five matches in the knockout phase of major international competitions, the longest such streak in its history, excluding preliminary rounds.
PSG captain Marquinhos never doubted that his side would exact revenge against Bayern, even after it was reduced to nine men.
"It's an important moment for us. It was a difficult match," the Brazil star said.
"We really wanted to win this one. We had something to settle with Bayern. The last game we played against them, we lost.
"It's good to win this match, it's a competition that we care about, we want to do something. The red cards are details that we have to deal with. With one player more or less, it changes things.
"I looked at my team-mates, I saw everyone saying, 'we're going to defend until the end'. I was sure we were going to win this match. We saw the attitude, with 10 and with nine.
"We continued to play, and we scored the second goal even with one player down. The team is ready for anything.
"Even with nine or 10 men, the team is ready to suffer, to counter, to hurt the opponent. We're going to play with our weapons."
Coach Luis Enrique said: "I'm proud. We were up to the task, and we deserved to win this difficult match. Bayern are a good team.
"We are a team that wants to play football, even when you have to defend with a player down. The end of the match was very difficult. Bayern played a very good game; they could have won."
