MUNICH: Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have hardly had the start they had wanted in 2023 but are hoping Wednesday’s Champions League win over Paris St Germain proves a pivotal moment that gives them the boost they are looking for in the domestic league.

The Bavarians, who beat star-studded PSG 2-0 for a 3-0 aggregate win over two legs and a spot in the last eight, are in the top spot on goal difference from Borussia Dortmund, also on 49 points, but have seen their lead from the winter break evaporate after winning only half of their eight league matches this year.

Dortmund, meanwhile, have racked up a perfect eight-game winning run to close in on Bayern, who are still aiming for a record-extending 11th straight league title. Dortmund’s last Bundesliga title dates back to 2012 under then coach Juergen Klopp.

Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann said the win over PSG showed his side’s potential if they remember to bring the necessary “emotion and greed”.

With former Stoke City striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting up front, an ageing Thomas Mueller pulling the strings and a Yann Sommer, bought to stand in for the injured Manuel Neuer, in goal, Nagelsmann may not have the tools of previous Bayern sides at his disposal.

But the manager said his side could “achieve anything”, even matching the trophy hauls of the great Bayern sides of 2013 and 2020, if they could find the right blend of quality, passion and hunger.

Bayern’s victory in Munich, thanks to second-half goals from Choupo-Moting and Serge Gna­bry, continued their stunning run in the Champions League this season.

Despite taking on the likes of Barcelona, Inter Milan and PSG, Bayern have won eight from eight in Europe this season.

While in the past Bayern could count on a quick flurry of Robert Lewandowski goals or a shutout from sweeper keeper Neuer to take them past plucky opponents, now the Bavarians need to match passion with passion.

“When we perform, I’ve said it 20 times, if we pair the maximum greed, and emotion with the quality that we have, then we can achieve anything,” the manager told German broadcaster DAZN on Wednesday night.

“We will have to see what our path will bring this season, but if we couple our quality with the way we played [against PSG] then a lot is possible. If we show this hunger then it will be very difficult to beat us. It is about coupling this hunger with passion. If we couple them then we are unbelievably good. If not then we get nervous.”

PSG REFLECT ON LATEST FAILURE

PSG, meanwhile, were knocked out in the last 16 for the fifth time in 12 seasons under big-spending owners Qatar Sport Investment (QSI) and it came as no surprise given the lack of club culture at the French capital club.

Poor recruitment decisions and blind faith in the talent of Kylian Mbappe and a handful of others meant PSG were not armed against a Bayern side whose cohesion and strength in depth made the difference.

PSG have been relying on the mercurial Mbappe up front, but Bayern were well prepared against such an elementary strategy, while Lionel Messi has been inconsistent since he joined from Barcelona in 2021.

Neymar was out injured on Wed­nesday and while the team looked more balanced with the Brazilian missing, the lack of craft in the midfield was horribly exposed.

Marco Verratti has been a key player for PSG since 2011, but suspensions and injuries have worked against the Italian. At the Allianz Arena, his blunder cost the visitors the first goal which was scored by Choupo-Moting before Gnabry put the result beyond doubt in the closing stages, leaving PSG to reflect on what went wrong again.

PSG were convinced that persuading Mbappe to stay rather than join Real Madrid last May would finally deliver them Champions League glory, but the failure to build a strong enough team around the France superstar has contributed to another early European exit.

The appointments of Portuguese super scout Luis Campos as head of recruitment and Christophe Galtier as coach to replace Mauricio Pochettino were supposed to be followed by the building of an exciting new team.

It is hard to argue now that PSG are stronger with the likes of Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz than they were with Angel di Maria and Leandro Paredes last year.

PSG placed their hope in Mbappe and Messi turning the tie around in Munich, but the latter had little impact while the France superstar saw just 32 touches of the ball.

“As I said in my first Champions League press conference this season, we were going to do our maximum. The truth is this is our maximum,” admitted Mbappe, whose own future will now again become the subject of increasing speculation.

There have also been talks about extending Messi’s contract, but he will be 36 in June and it may be wise to invest the money required elsewhere.

There may be doubts about Galtier’s own future, with the coach aware that winning Ligue 1 alone might not be enough.

‘NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE’

In the night’s other tie, AC Milan’s Champions League credentials were barely tested by Tottenham Hotspur as the seven-time winners advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2012.

The Italian champions, however, still have a chance of winning club football’s biggest prize for the first time since 2007, while Spurs’ 15-year wait for a trophy goes on.

A goalless draw against 10-man Tottenham was enough to secure a 1-0 aggregate win, with Brahim Diaz’s first-leg strike decisive.

“I like to think there’s nothing impossible in sport,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said. “Clearly, only the best in Europe remain, and each round gets more difficult, but I am sure that all the European experiences, especially the negative ones help us step up a level. Now we must go into the quarter-final with confidence and belief.”

Milan have turned around an abysmal start to the year and are now in fifth place in Serie A, equal on points with AS Roma who are in the fourth and last place that gives Champions League football next season.

“It is wonderful to play in the Champions League, gratifying and important for Milan. So either we win it, which would not be easy, or try to qualify by finishing in the top four in Serie A,” Pioli said.

Even the return of manager Antonio Conte could not inspire a comeback from Tottenham, whose best chance came in the 94th minute when Harry Kane’s header was pushed away from the line by Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

Conte returned to the technical area after missing the last four games following gallbladder surgery but was as subdued as his team on a freezing night in north London.

And with his contract up in June, Wednesday’s defeat felt like the beginning of the end of an era even if his side remain in contention to finish in the Premier League top four.

“This is not the right day to speak about the future but I have a contract with Tottenham and Tottenham know very well my thoughts and at the end of the season we will meet and make a decision,” Conte said.

“I have a great relationship with my chairman [Daniel Levy], with Fabio Paratici [director of football], but it doesn’t mean I don’t tell them which is my vision, you understand? Then we will see. Now we have to finish the season. I have a contract until June. I am happy to work in Tottenham but at the end will make a decision.”

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2023