Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Bayern Munich: European champions overcome red cards to advance

Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Club World Cup quarter-finals despite going down to nine men, in a match overshadowed by a serious injury to Jamal Musiala.

Musiala was carried off after hurting his left leg in a collision with Gianluigi Donnarumma late in the first half, with players on both sides appearing distressed by the injury.

Desire Doue put PSG ahead 12 minutes from time, but both Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez received late red cards to put their position under threat.

However, Luis Enrique's European champions got the clinching goal through substitute Ousmane Dembele, as they teed up a semi-final showdown with either Real Madrid or Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern thought they had the lead when Dayot Upamecano nodded Michael Olise's free-kick into the bottom-left corner in first-half stoppage time, but the linesman's flag was swiftly raised, with that decision confirmed by VAR.

Seconds before the half-time whistle, Bayern suffered a monumental blow as Musiala collided with Donnarumma and sustained a nasty injury to his lower left leg, with the PSG goalkeeper visibly shaken after the incident.

His opposite number, Manuel Neuer, made a fine one-on-one save from Bradley Barcola to kickstart an eventful second half, though the goalkeeper later got away with a terrible touch as Dembele rolled wide of an open goal. 

However, Neuer was unsighted in the 78th minute as Doue hit a low shot through a crowd of bodies and into the net.

PSG had to survive a late wave of pressure as Pacho scraped his studs down Leon Goretzka's leg and substitute Hernandez caught Raphael Guerreiro with a flailing elbow, with referee Anthony Taylor brandishing straight red cards to both players.

Harry Kane had a header disallowed for offside as Bayern pressed for a leveller, but moments after striking the crossbar on a lightning break, Dembele swept Achraf Hakimi's clever cutback home to double PSG's advantage.

Bayern thought they had a lifeline deep into 11 minutes of stoppage time, with Taylor pointing to the penalty spot when Nuno Mendes challenged Thomas Muller near the goal line with a high boot. However, that decision was reversed when a VAR review showed the left-back did not make contact with his opponent, dashing Bayern's hopes.

Data Debrief: Only nine men needed

PSG entered Saturday's match having conceded an average of six shots and 0.55 expected goals against (xGA) throughout four games at the 2025 Club World Cup, with only Botafogo managing to score past Luis Enrique's side (in a 1-0 group-stage win).

Bayern offered their sternest test yet, particularly after Pacho's 82nd-minute dismissal. However, PSG held Vincent Kompany's men to 13 shots, totalling 0.6 expected goals (xG), meaning they have gone 10 straight matches holding their opponents to fewer than one expected goal (in all competitions).

That defensive resilience allowed the French champions to become the first team to win a game in which they received multiple red cards at the 2025 Club World Cup.

Boca Juniors (in a 2-2 draw with Benfica) and River Plate (in a 2-0 defeat to Inter) both finished games with nine men in the group stage.

PSG have now won each of their last five matches in the knockout phase of major international competitions, the longest such streak in their history (excluding preliminary rounds).