• Monday, 23 December 2024

Kane and Mbappe braces as Bayern and PSG advance in Champions League

Kane and Mbappe braces as Bayern and PSG advance in Champions League

Berlin, 6 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe got a brace each in man of the match performances as they helped Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain coast into the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday.

Kane was on target in the 38th and 66th, and veteran Thomas Müller got the other before half-time as Bayern rallied from a 1-0 first leg deficit to beat Italy's Lazio 3-0 on the night and 3-1 overall in the last 16 tie.

PSG progressed 4-1 on aggregate against Real Sociedad from a 2-1 win in Spain thanks to 15th and 56th-minute efforts from star striker Mbappe who is set to leave the French champions after the season.

Mbappe's first goal broke the net which led to a short interruption for repair work.

Kane and Mbappe are now joint Champions League top scorers this term with six goals each.

PSG remain in the hunt for a first-ever Champions League title, while the elite event could offer six-time winners Bayern and their under pressure coach Thomas Tuchel the only realistic chance for silverware this term, having fallen 10 points behind Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and long out of the German Cup.

"It was a perfect night, a great game. We trailed 1-0 but this was a great moment in our season. We had a top performance," Kane told Amazon Prime.

Mbappe told Canal+: “We’re really happy. That was the objective. We wanted to qualify, but we also wanted to win. We had a game plan that was clear, and we managed to score early. We didn’t come under too much pressure, just a little at the end.”

The next games are on Wednesday when title holders Manchester City lead Copenhagen 3-1 and record winners Real Madrid are up 1-0 over RB Leipzig into their home legs. The other four second leg matches are next week.

Inconsistent Bayern started their comeback mission against Lazio with a first effort from Leroy Sane which was saved by goalkeeper Ivan Provedel, who was then also on his guard against Jamal Musiala.

Lazio did not sit back and almost scored in the 37th when a deflected cross fell for Ciro Immobile, only for the captain to head just wide.

It turned out to be a costly miss as Bayern claimed the upper hand in the tie in the remaining minutes before half-time.

Kane opened the scoring with a diving header in the 38th off a scoffed shot by Raphael Guerreiro, and Müller then nodded in off Matthijs de Ligt's volley two minutes into stoppage time for 2-0.

England captain Kane further soothed Munich's nerves with their third in the 66th, slotting home on the rebound of Sane's shot saved by Provedel.

There was no way back for Lazio while Bayern came close to a fourth when Müller hit the post, and Müller said post-match that "maybe we can use this game as a turning point" for the upcoming weeks.

Kane added: "We have a responsibility as players in every match, in every competition. We can still improve."

In San Sebastian, PSG almost drew first blood nine minutes into the game when Mbappe squared for Bradley Parcola whose effort from point blank range was however aimed right at goalkeeper Alejandro Remiro.

Mbappe broke the deadlock himself six minutes later when he took up a long ball from Ousmane Dembele, made a defender look bad and fired into the far right corner.

The shot damaged the net which led to a brief break, before Remiro stuck out his foot to stop another Mbappe shot.

Real Sociedad finally got into the game but they found no opening until a shot from Takefusa Kubo on the stroke of half-time went narrowly left.

Mbappe wrapped up the tie in the 56th, taking up another long ball, from Lee Kang-In, and beating Remiro into the near left corner.

Real Socieded had a goal from Ander Barrenetxea nullified for offside shortly after he came on, but they were eventually awarded for their second-half efforts with a late consolation goal from Mikel Merino.

"We had to dampen their hopes early on. That’s what we did, and we’re very happy to be back in the quarter-finals,” Mbappe said.

Photo: UEFA