The last time Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) played each other, it was for the Champions League trophy and took place in Portugal during the dog days of summer. In this year's tournament, their game took place in the Munich, Germany in the center of a snowstorm. It set the stage for what played out to be not just a rematch, but a bizarro game.

The conditions may have been frosty but the match began red hot. In the opening minute, Bayern almost scored twice thanks to chances from Lucas Hernandez and Eric Maxim Choupo-Mouting, the latter of whom was up front in manager Hansi Flick's 4-2-3-1 formation in lieu of the injured Robert Lewandowski.

Their quick attacks were blocked by PSG goalkeeper Kaylor Navas and, out of nowhere, PSG made a break for it. Bayern tried to track back but simply couldn't match the pace of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Mbappe's pace and consistency in goalscoring have brought him favorable comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo. What's often forgotten is that he has CR7's high footballing IQ also. In a split second, he tricked Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer – often considered one of the best goalkeepers in the world – and scored with a nutmeg in only three minutes.

The criticism regularly levelled at PSG is that it's an ego club. Superstar players go and get paid millions to live in Paris, win easy trophies by smashing a significantly poorer league, and that's why they always crumble in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Under the aegis of club legend/manager Mauricio Pochettino, they have begun playing like a real team and they were out for blood in this encounter. All that talent working together was a genuinely awesome, genuinely unexpected sight.

It's fair to say it caught Bayern off guard. They play aggressive football which requires maintaining a high back line and minimizing the space the opponent has to work with. The front four of PSG's 4-2-3-1 battered against it constantly along the left – Neymar, Mbappe and Julian Draxler with Angel di Maria providing crosses from the right – and Bayern's defensive pairing of Niklas Sule and Benjamin Pavard found it nearly impossible to keep up.

PSG made it 2-0 in the 28th minute when Neymar made a perfectly timed cross to the versatile Marquinhos. This goal was fascinating as it was essentially an opposite offside trap: Bayern pushed out from defending a corner to meet Neymar and Marquinhos stayed still, ending up behind the lines without moving.

Bayern pulled one back nine minutes later with a header from Choupo-Moting. This was easily one of the best games of football this year, two elite sides giving each other their best. However, as good as Choupo-Moting is, he is not Lewandowski and in the second half, as Bayern hunted for an equalizer, the Polish striker's clinical finishing was sorely missed.

It took until the hour mark for Bayern to pull even; Thomas Muller got on the end of a Joshua Kimmich free kick and headed it in. Like all maverick players, Bayern's "raumdeuter" can be inconsistent, but the one facet of his game that is always on point is his timing. This was a beautiful goal.

Bayern were now playing with the confidence they've displayed all season. That meant constant forward pressure and overlapping runs – perfect for Mbappe to exploit. A probing David Alaba long ball was intercepted by Draxler. He passed it to Di Maria, then on to Mbappe who stormed down the pitch and outsmarted veteran Jerome Boateng to, once again, wrong foot Neuer. The composure in front of a goal was magisterial for such a young player.

PSG won 3-2, giving their best ever performance in the process – reigning champions Bayern Munich weren't bad either. It was a case of 99 percent losing out to 100 percent. The second leg next week in Paris is sure to be a total blockbuster.