In a high-scoring Champions League match, Paris Saint-Germain defeated Bayer Leverkusen 7:2 at the BayArena. The French side dominated despite red cards on both teams and secured their third straight win. Leverkusen's chances of advancing in the competition are fading.
The match started with an early setback for Bayer Leverkusen: Willian Pacho headed in the 0:1 for PSG in the 7th minute. Leverkusen was awarded a penalty in the 25th minute after a handball by Illja Zabarnyi, but Alejandro Grimaldo hit the post. Shortly after, captain Robert Andrich received a red card in the 33rd minute following VAR review for an elbow on Desiré Doué.
In the 37th minute, Zabarnyi also saw red for a foul on Christian Kofane, and Aleix García converted the penalty to make it 1:1 (38.). But PSG capitalized on Leverkusen's numerical disadvantage: Doué scored in the 41st minute for 1:2, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia made it 1:3 (43.), and Doué added a lob in stoppage time for 1:4 (45.+3).
In the second half, Nuno Mendes scored the 1:5 (50.), García pulled one back to 2:5 (54.), Ousmane Dembélé made it 2:6 (66.), and Vitinha sealed the 2:7 (90.). Coach Kasper Hjulmand was disappointed: "We lost the game in seven minutes, we were just back in it – and then we wanted too much, were too open and made too many mistakes." Double scorer García stressed: "We need to analyze that, we are a young team, and we need to improve."
Leverkusen sits behind teams like FC Pafos in the table, with upcoming matches against Benfica, Manchester City, and Newcastle United. The result echoes the 7:1 defeat to Barcelona in 2012.