Bayern cruise past PSG to reach Champions League last eight

MUNICH: Bayern Munich forward Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting scored against his former club and Serge Gnabry added a late second as the Germans beat Paris St Germain 2-0 on Wednesday (Mar 8) to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.

The 33-year-old Choupo-Moting, who played for PSG from 2018-20, tapped in from a Leon Goretzka assist in the 61st minute.

Substitute Gnabry struck on the break in the 89th minute to seal the hosts' 3-0 aggregate win following their 1-0 victory in the first leg in Paris.

The result established Bayern as one of the title favourites going into the last eight and left PSG's star-studded squad including world champion Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe without a shot at Europe's premier club trophy for another year.

The quarter-final draw will take place on Mar 17.

PSG, without injured forward Neymar, were sharper in the early stages and went close through Mbappe and then a double effort from Messi in front of goal in the 25th minute.

Bayern gradually took the fight to the visitors and had a chance of their own when Musiala's 32nd-minute shot was blocked by keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Despite PSG captain Marquinhos being taken off with a rib injury in the 36th minute, the visitors almost went ahead two minutes later when under pressure Bayern keeper Yann Sommer lost possession in the box.

Vitinha's shot with the goal at his mercy was cleared on the line by Matthijs de Ligt in what proved to be a pivotal moment in the game.

The Dutch defender had made an almost identical stop against VfB Stuttgart in the league last week.

With Mbappe largely kept quiet, it was his in-form former PSG team mate Choupo-Moting who scored when he struck just past the hour for his 17th goal in all competitions this season.

He had gone