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Champions League: PSG win thriller at Bayern, Chelsea bounce back to outclass Porto
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PSG's Kylian Mbappe takes just three minutes to make his mark during their Champions League clash with Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, April 7, 2021. /CFP

PSG's Kylian Mbappe takes just three minutes to make his mark during their Champions League clash with Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, April 7, 2021. /CFP

Kylian Mbappe insisted Paris Saint-Germain still have it all to do after he scored twice in a thrilling 3-2 win at holders Bayern Munich in Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg.

Bayern had their 19-match unbeaten run in the Champions League ended in a repeat of last year's final, as the German giants suffered their first European defeat since March 2019.

PSG raced into a 2-0 lead after just 28 minutes behind closed doors at the Allianz Arena as Neymar created goals for Mbappe and Marquinhos.

Bayern, whose top scorer Robert Lewandowski is sidelined by a knee injury, drew level courtesy of headers by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Thomas Mueller.

However, Mbappe showed his class with a superb second goal to give the visitors an advantage for the return leg in Paris.

This was a record 19th appearance in the Champions League quarter-finals for Bayern, but there was little for them to celebrate at the final whistle.

"Kylian Mbappe made the difference. It's a very positive result for us, but everything is still open," said PSG coach Maurico Pochettino.

Mbappe poses for a photo with the Player of the Match award following PSG's Champions League clash with Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, April 7, 2021. /CFP

Mbappe poses for a photo with the Player of the Match award following PSG's Champions League clash with Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, April 7, 2021. /CFP

Elsewhere, a classy goal from Mason Mount helped Chelsea to a 2-0 first-leg win over Porto, whose wasteful finishing could have scuppered their hopes of springing another Champions League upset in the quarter-finals.

Mount's slick turn and shot in the first half would have been painful enough for Porto, who were the better side for large spells in Seville but repeatedly lacked the precision to take advantage.

Instead, their misery was compounded by Ben Chilwell capitalizing on a mistake at the back to score a late second that gave Chelsea another away goal and leaves them on the brink of the semi-finals.

They were away goals only in name given both these teams were playing in the unfamiliar Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, where they will meet again next week, just with the home and away roles reversed.

Porto were in the home dug-out, wore their home kit, had a large club banner in the empty stand and their anthem was the one that played out before kick-off.

Chelsea played the part too, delivering a classic away performance of soaking up the pressure and hitting their opponents on the counter-attack, their quality in the final third proving decisive.

Chelsea's Mason Mount continues his fine form during their Champions League clash with Porto at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville, Spain, April 7, 2021. /CFP

Chelsea's Mason Mount continues his fine form during their Champions League clash with Porto at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Seville, Spain, April 7, 2021. /CFP

Mount's goal makes him Chelsea's youngest ever scorer in the Champions League at 22 years and 87 days old while Chilwell's second meant the club boasted two English scorers in a Champions League game for the first time since 2012.

Chelsea's win also goes some way to easing the shock of Saturday's 5-2 loss at home to West Brom in the Premier League, which ended Thomas Tuchel's 14-match unbeaten start as coach.

"After losing such a strange game we said the best situation would be to produce a clean sheet straight away and this makes it very precious, this result," Tuchel said.

Meanwhile in Italy, Romelu Lukaku powered Inter Milan closer to their first league title in over a decade by scoring and setting up Lautaro Martinez in Wednesday's 2-1 win over Sassuolo that moved his team 11 points clear at the top of Serie A.

Champions Juventus are 12 points behind Inter in third after beating Napoli 2-1, as Paulo Dybala scored on his return after nearly three months out with the league's leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo also on target.

Both fixtures had been rescheduled because of coronavirus outbreaks at Inter last month and Napoli in early October.

Source(s): AFP

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