PSG edge epic Champions League tussle with Bayern despite second-leg defeat

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain knocked holders Bayern Munich out of the Champions League on Tuesday despite Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scoring against his old club as a 1-0 defeat in the second leg at the Parc des Princes could not prevent the French giants from winning a tremendous quarter-final tie on away goals.

Neymar twice hit the woodwork for PSG in the first half and Choupo-Moting then put Bayern in front five minutes before the break.

But the reigning European champions could not get the second goal they needed after losing 3-2 at home in the first leg last week.

PSG have revenge following their 1-0 defeat in last season's final in Lisbon, and the dream of winning a first European Cup remains alive for the Qatar-owned club.

Mauricio Pochettino's team, who had already eliminated Barcelona in the last 16, can now look forward to a semi-final against Manchester City or Borussia Dortmund.

"I am delighted, despite the defeat. We were facing a great team, the European champions, but we are going back to the semi-finals," Neymar told broadcaster RMC Sport.

"We are a real team. The most important thing is that we are through. Now we can aim for something even bigger."

Bayern will have to console themselves with trying to win a ninth consecutive Bundesliga title, and will wonder what might have been had the prolific Robert Lewandowski, or Serge Gnabry, been available for the two legs of this tie.

The future of coach Hansi Flick will come back into focus, too, given his frosty relationship with the club's sporting director, Hasan Salihamidzic.

"It is not because of tonight that we are eliminated," said captain Manuel Neuer.

"We deserved our win here, but the result in Munich was not good enough.

"It is not all negative. We won the Club World Cup, we have a good chance to win the Bundesliga too, so in the end it will be a positive season."

Bayern certainly played their part in an epic tie that will live long in the memory and deserved to be played before a full house both in Munich and here.

For all their injuries, their starting line-up was still impressive, and with Thomas Mueller leading from the front and co-ordinating their suffocating press, Bayern took the game to their hosts.

That suited PSG, who have produced their best performances this season away from home and could look to hit the Germans on the break with the devastating pace of Kylian Mbappe.

The Parisians, to be fair, were without two huge players of their own in captain Marquinhos and playmaker Marco Verratti, but they did have Mbappe and Neymar.