In a thrilling showdown on Tuesday evening, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich faced off in the Champions League semi-final, delivering a captivating 5-4 spectacle in their first leg encounter.

The match was marked by an electrifying first half, with PSG, the reigning champions, taking a 3-2 lead. Both teams exchanged blows in a dynamic display of offensive prowess that kept fans on the edge of their seats.

After Bayern’s Harry Kane scored from the penalty spot to open the scoring, PSG responded swiftly with goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Joao Neves, putting them ahead 2-1. Bayern leveled the score through Michael Olise, only for PSG to regain their lead when Ousmane Dembele converted a contentious penalty just before halftime.

While the defensive performances of both teams have faced scrutiny, the match has been widely praised by many as an instant classic in football history.

In this context, Daily Mail Sport reporters reflect on some of the greatest matches they’ve witnessed, offering insights into why these games deserve a place among the best ever played.

PSG earned a 5-4 victory over Bayern Munich on Tuesday in a Champions League classic

The match has been hailed as one of football’s greatest games after a feast of attacking football

Oliver Holt

Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan (3-2 on penalties), 2005 Champions League Final

Liverpool were so completely outclassed by AC Milan in the first half that it was embarrassing but the second half, which started with Liverpool 3-0 down, took on an other-worldly quality. 

Driven on by a titanic performance from Steven Gerrard, I will never forget the look of bewilderment on the faces of some of the Milan players as Liverpool recovered to 3-3. 

The match had everything, including a late, astonishing double save from Jerzy Dudek to deny Andriy Shevchenko. That was when I knew Liverpool were going to lift the trophy. 

It really was the Miracle of Istanbul.

Steven Gerrard titanic performance inspired the Miracle of Istanbul as Liverpool fought back from 3-0 down against AC Milan before winning on penalties

Ian Ladyman 

Argentina 3-3 France (4-2 on pens) – 2022 World Cup final

These games are never good. The occasion? Yeah, that’s amazing. But the football? Not so much.

This was the one that broke the mould. This was the game when one world superstar – Kylian Mbappe – scored a hat-trick and still lost. This was the game when another – Lionel Messi – finally put the seal on a life’s work.

France – fresh from a sickness bug that had ravaged their squad – played like they needed a lie down for the first hour. Messi scored an early penalty and then Angel Di Maria put the finishing touches on an end-to-end move that looked to have won his team the title.

But France’s comeback was such that only a save from Emi Martinez from Randal Kolo Muani in the 123rd minute prevented the 2018 winners winning an incredible game 4-3 and defending their crown.

Argentina eventually took it on penalties. They deserved it, too. Just about.

Argentina and France delivered a stunning World Cup final in 2022, which ended with Lionel Messi putting the seal on a life’s work by lifting the trophy

Kylian Mbappe became just the second man to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final, but ended up on the losing side

Craig Hope

Inter Milan 4-3 Barcelona, May 2025

The greatest game I’ve ever watched will always be Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle from 1996. But one more recent game that stands out, for which I was in attendance, is Inter 4 Barcelona 3 in last year’s Champions League semi-final second leg, after a 3-3 draw in the first leg.

The noise is guaranteed in the San Siro, but here we had the amplification of events on the pitch. Barca thought they’d won it when Raphinha scored in the 87th minute, and so did I! But a 93rd-minute equaliser took us to extra-time before Inter’s Davide Frattesi won it for the hosts.

It was sensational drama, made all the better by the fact it was a second leg and the prize was a place in the final. That is the one downside of the PSG-Bayern belter this week, it was a first leg, and only next week will the true jeopardy be apparent.

Inter Milan’s 4-3 win over Barcelona in last season’s Champions League semi-final second leg delivered sensational drama 

Jack Gaughan

Man City 2-1 Liverpool, January 2019

There is an honourable mention for an eight-goal thriller between City and Monaco in 2017 but for sheer quality, two teams at the peak of their powers, this title clash had it all. 

Jurgen Klopp’s rock against Pep Guardiola’s classical. Liverpool had only conceded eight goals all season until that point but chances rained down at both ends. 

A night of tension, anxiety, two stunning City goals from Sergio Aguero and Leroy Sane, with Roberto Firmino’s equaliser wonderfully crafted. Ederson made a top late save to preserve the points. 

Just like Arsenal’s trip to the Etihad Stadium the other week, it was a game that truly lived up to the billing of the country’s best teams going at it.

Man City’s 2-1 win over Liverpool in 2019 showed two title contenders at the peak of their powers

Kieran Gill

PSG 5-4 Bayern Munich, April 2026

Recency bias be damned, how can I not plump for PSG 5-4 Bayern? 

I was writing the match report, and when Harry Kane scored his 54th goal of the season for his club, I thought it was lovely, because it gave me an early storyline to work with on whether winning the Champions League this season could be the Ballon d’Or moment he has been waiting for. Turns out, that was only the beginning. 

What followed was chaos. Beautiful chaos. I was trying to type, but not take my eyes off the match, because doing so risked missing something special. 

The Premier League, with its obsessions over long throws and set-pieces and defending and time-wasting, could only dream of such a spectacle.

Harry Kane’s 54th goal of the season was just the start of the beautiful chaos of PSG’s 5-4 win over Bayern Munich

Tom Collomosse

Germany 0-2 Italy, July 2006

Two European heavyweights and (then) three-time world champions. A brilliant stadium. High-class players everywhere you looked. An ending for the ages.

Long before Fabio Grosso scored Italy’s opener with a minute of extra-time remaining, this game had developed into a classic.

Michael Ballack on one side, Andrea Pirlo on the other. Miroslav Klose against Fabio Cannavaro. Jens Lehmann and Gigi Buffon in goal.

Perhaps Italy’s 4-3 win over West Germany in Mexico in 1970 was even better… but as I was not born for that one, the 2006 epic has my vote.

Fabio Grosso’s extra-time goal came towards the end of a classic World Cup semi-final, with Alessandro Del Piero scoring Italy’s second moments later to beat Germany

Matt Barlow

Portsmouth 7-4 Reading, September 2007

It was September 2007 and I suspect the quality did not match the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night… but I was at Fratton Park to report on this wild goal spree, and it always springs to mind when there is another high scoring game. 

That’s the thing about football. You don’t always need quality for a thrillingly memorable game. 

There was a hat trick for Benjani, two own goals, a penalty and in Harry Redknapp and Steve Coppell two managers committed to entertaining the fans. 

Benjani scored a hat-trick as Portsmouth beat Reading 7-4 in the Premier League’s highest scoring game back in 2007

‘Difficult to analyse,’ mused Coppell drily afterwards.

There were eight goals in the second half, the old Fratton timbers were shivering and plenty of confusion in the press box about who created the goals and how exactly.

It remains more than 18 years on the highest scoring game of the Premier League era.