Leipzig defeat against PSG: too much of a good thing

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Lots of hunters, but the ball stays with Neymar

Too little against too much: how do you defend against Neymar and Kylian Mbappé? After the problems in the quarter-finals against the Atlético single talent João Félix, RB coach Julian Nagelsmann brought speed to the game, Nordi Mukiele for Marcel Halstenberg. Lukas Klostermann had to change sides for this. Nice in theory, but not enough in practice. RB had no chance against the PSG class.

The result: Paris Saint-Germain defeated RB Leipzig 3-0 (2-0) in the semi-finals of the Champions League and is in the final for the first time. Click here for the match report.

The first half: The people of Leipzig received 45 minutes of free object lesson. Neymar hit the post twice (6th minute and 35th), Mbappé (17th) and again Neymar (44th) missed further chances. There were also goals, however: Marquinhos headed a free-kick from Ángel Di María (13th), and the template provider was the goal scorer in the 42nd minute when he took advantage of a bad mistake by RB goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi in the build-up. RB was amazed, ran after and could not stop the flow of the Paris game even with 15 fouls.

The man for those special moments: The Brazilian Marquinhos hadn't even scored in this Champions League season until the final tournament in Lisbon. Then he scored in the quarterfinals against Atalanta shortly before the end to equalize, now in the semifinals to 1-0. Great players reveal themselves in great games.

Record set: PSG scored a goal in the 34th main round match of the Champions League in a row. Only Real Madrid had achieved that between 2011 and 2014.

The second half: Nagelsmann brought fresh staff with Emil Forsberg and Patrik Schick, who breathed new life into his team: The substitutes Schick (51st) and Forsberg (52nd) had the first opportunities for now brisk Leipzigers. But then referee Björn Kuipers and his video assistant overlooked a foul on Mukiele, which was followed by a header from the only medium-high Juan Bernat (56th). It was his fifth goal in the 17th Champions League game game for PSG. For Bayern, he had only scored two goals in 25 premier class games. After the 3-0 win, PSG regained full control of the game, no more goals should be scored.

Who can wear it: Nagelsmann had made himself chic for the occasion. The 33-year-old's thread for the final is unfortunately denied us. Due to Leipzig's defeat, Didier Deschamps remains the youngest coach to reach a Champions League final (2005 with AS Monaco). Nagelsmann still has a year to steal this record from him.

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Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo will know how to counter this

Tuchel's team: Thomas Tuchel has already won the championship, cup and league cup this season with PSG, and now he has led the club into the final of the premier class. He managed to back the free spirits on the offensive and convince the defensive to do the work for the magicians in the front row. Tuchel's PSG is not a circus, against Leipzig, the pressing and counter-pressing of the Parisians were particularly impressive.

In the big circle: Tuchel is the fifth German coach to reach a Champions League final. His predecessors: Jupp Heynckes, Jürgen Klopp, Ottmar Hitzfeld - and Klaus Toppmöller. Tomorrow the game Bayern Munich against Olympique Lyon (9 p.m., TV: Sky and Dazn, live ticker: SPIEGEL.de) with Hansi Flick can follow the sixth. The final will take place on Sunday at 9 p.m. PSG are reaching for the greatest success in club history, 50 years after it was founded.

Applause for RB: Tuchel had already given his counterpart the greatest compliment before the game: It was not worth trying tactical surprises against Nagelsmann because he would react so quickly to them anyway that they did not give them a long-lasting advantage. Despite the poor performance, Leipzig can look forward to the Champions League season with satisfaction. Against Tottenham Hotspur and Atlético Madrid they showed that they can beat strong European teams in knockout matches. For the very top, this or that is missing, but above all: World class on the score sheet - like at PSG.