Commanding Reds seal prestige victory

FC Bayern convincingly beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 on Tuesday evening. Robert Lewandowski and Corentin Tolisso scored for the German record champions in the first half. Kylian Mbappé pulled one back after the restart, but Tolisso rounded off his brace midway through the second half in a match that was more about "prestige" than winning the group, as Jupp Heynckes had pointed out in the build-up to the heavyweight clash. A victory by a four-goal margin would have meant the group win for Bayern.

The German record champions started with Sven Ulreich in goal and Joshua Kimmich, Niklas Süle, Mats Hummels and David Alaba in a back four. Tolisso and Sebastian Rudy featured in a twin holding role behind James, who was flanked by Kingsley Coman and Franck Ribéry, with Lewandowski as lone striker.

Jupp Heynckes shuffled his deck, making five changes to the XI that saw off Hannover on Saturday. Süle, Alaba, Rudy, Tolisso and captain on the night Ribéry took over from Jérôme Boateng, Rafinha, Javi Martínez, Arturo Vidal and Thomas Müller.

Lewy opens, Corentin doubles

The 72,000 capacity crowd at the Allianz Arena saw the Bavarians signal their intent from the off, but it was PSG's Kylian Mbappé who had the first chance, charging down the right and cutting inside to warm Ulreich's gloves. Coman soon staged a similar move at the other end, testing visiting netminder Alphonse Aréola. Bayern drew first blood when Coman connected with a James cross, his header inviting Lewandowski to tap in.

Both sides pressed early, but Bayern set up more structured and dangerous attacks in a high-octane encounter that lived up to its billing. A Tolisso header went wide before Neymar drew a fine save from Ulreich. James whipped in a pinpoint cross, Tolisso rising to head past Aréola and into the low corner of the net, and suddenly Bayern needed only two more goals to topple the visitors from their perch.

Thrilling second half

But Bayern's hopes of winning the group were dashed shortly after the interval, when a Mbappé header found the net. The second half matched the first one in terms of pace, but it was even more thrilling with gilt-edged chances at either end, PSG's devastating trident featuring Mbappé, Cavani and Neymar demonstrating their qualities. Kimmich beat Cavani to the ball before Draxler drew a fine save from Ulreich. Heynckes now played his first ace, Müller replacing Ribéry after the hour mark.

But then the Frenchmen shone - Bayern's Frenchmen, that is. Coman, who built on his blistering display from Saturday, charged down the right, brilliantly setting up Tolisso, who proved a cool customer in beating Aréola from nine yards. Mbappé and Marquinhos miscued their finishes, Vidal and Rafinha coming on for James and Alaba. Ulreich made a top save to deny Mbappé before Lewandowski saw his effort go over the bar in the dying embers of the match.

When match official Cüneyt Çakir blew for full-time Bayern had not lived up to the Herculean task of winning by a four-goal margin against European heavyweights, but the German record champions will be buoyed by an impressive display and, of course, the prestige from Tuesday's victory. Heynckes' troops are back in action on Saturday, when they travel to face Frankfurt before entertaining Köln next Wednesday.

Live match report for fcbayern.com by Greg Salmen