Les Parisiennes secure their place in the semi-finals late in the night!

It was in a Parc des Princes that wanted to play its part that more than 27,000 supporters came to support our Parisiennes on Wednesday evening (a record attendance for the Women's team). For all of the Rouge et Bleu family, the objective was clear: go out and secure qualification for the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. For the encounter, Didier Ollé-Nicolle started the match with a balanced side and made the most of Paulina Dudek's return to pair her with Amanda Ilestedt through the middle of the defence. 

Despite Les Franciliennes' lead at kick-off thanks to their 2-1 victory in Munich, they approached the match with as much focus as they had shown in the first leg. With eight Covid cases and 11 players absent, it was a decimated Bayern side that lined up at the Parc des Princes and despite that, the German side showed their determination to get back into the game from the very get go.  The brilliance of the evening got underway when Baltimore (2') recorded the first shot of the encounter! 

And after some difficult moments for Les Parisiennes, particularly in defence, it was in fact Paris that opened the scoring when Sandy Baltimore struck from distance and sent the Parc des Princes into a frenzy (1-0, 17'). The home side's lead was short-lived, however, with Bayern reacting and getting the equaliser in the minutes that followed. A free-kick into the box was pushed away by the Paris keeper, but the ball ended up in the back of the net thanks to defender Kumagai (1-1, 19').

Les Parisiennes didn't lose their confidence and continued with the same philosophy as they looked to retake the lead. Chance after chance was turned away by exceptional saves from the German stopper, including Paris Saint-Germain captain Geyoro's strike (25') and Kadidiatou Diani's magnificent shot from distance (28'). With the German champions in need of a win to qualify, they looked a real threat in front of goal, when Glodis Viggosdottir was perfectly found by Carolin Simon from a free-kick. This was the perfect opportunity for Barbora Votikova to shine and deal with the goal-bound effort.  

Didier Ollé-Nicolle's side could have taken the lead once more just before the break when Marie-Antoinette Katoto just missed the target (43') with an effort that brought a relatively balanced first half to a close. 

Following the break and sitting just 45 minutes away from a final, the atmosphere in the capital was still just as electric. After Paris dominated and went close through Baltimore, the visitors took advantage of a mistake to take the lead with Bühl getting her name on the scoresheet (1-2, 55'). Startled but far from being beaten, our Parisiennes held on to deny a series of Bayern attacks.  Our Rouge et Bleu pushed hard to find the equaliser, but Katoto's effort (79') was perfectly dealt with by the Bayern keeper. Paris continued to push in vain, while Bayern Munich caused problems in the home side's box too. With the score at 3-3 over the two legs, extra-time was needed to separate the two sides.

Everything was still to be done for both sides in extra-time. After the Bavarians had dominated the second half,  it was Les Parisiennes that took the match by the scruff of the neck, creating several chances, notably Bachmann's effort after a rapid counter-attack (104'). And it was an incredibly lively Ramona Bachmann that put smiles on the faces of those in the Parc as she perfectly finished with a shot across goal (2-2, 112'). Paris then brilliantly resisted the visitors' attacks until the end of extra-time! An incredible party at home.