For many football watchers, the winner of this season's UCL is likely to come from this semi-final, with respect to Arsenal and Atletico, and after Tuesday night's epic encounter, it's hard to disagree.
Great entertainment value
Just 12 months ago, the football world was captivated at the semi-finals between Barcelona and Inter Milan, with popular opinion suggesting that the two clashes were undoubtedly the best-ever games at that stage of the competition.
During the 90+ minutes in Paris, however, PSG and the Bavarians may have just surpassed it. The action was chaotic at times, but for sheer entertainment value, it's going to take some beating.
Goals were always likely, given that Bayern had scored in every UCL match they'd played in this season, and PSG had found the net in their last eight fixtures in the competition.
Vincent Kompany's side were also on a 15-match unbeaten run away from home, so if the hosts were going to win the match, they'd need to be at their very best.
Kane's opener spelt danger for PSG
The league phase fixture in November saw Bayern come out on top in Paris thanks to two first-half goals from Luis Diaz in a 2-1 win. A victory, incidentally, that also saw the Colombian receive a red card for a two-footed lunge on Achraf Hakimi.
Thoughts of another win in the French capital were alive thanks to Harry Kane's expertly taken penalty in the 17th minute, after Willian Pacho had felled Diaz in the box.
An 11th first-half goal conceded in the competition this season put PSG only behind Barcelona (12) and Qarabag (15) as the teams to have let in the most goals before the half-time whistle in this season's UCL games.
Kane's 13th UCL goal this season spelt danger for the hosts, as Bayern had won all nine European games in 25/26 when taking the lead.
Exquisite finish from Kvaratskhelia
Michael Olise was also causing problems for PSG, and had his shot gone in shortly after, rather than getting cleared off the line, the visitors would've put some daylight between them and their hosts.
Though defence from both sides clearly was secondary to attacking intent, even at that stage, Nuno Mendes was doing his utmost to disrupt Bayern's flow.
By the time he was subbed off later in the game, he'd won four of his five attempted one-on-one duels and was a significant barrier to the Bavarians in the attacking third of the pitch.
Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia belatedly got their game going, and it was the Georgian who lit the blue touch paper when finding the net with an exquisite right-footed curling effort in the 24th minute.
Neves and Olise on target
That sparked the hosts into life, and before Neves headed in brilliantly from Dembele's corner, Doue (twice), Mendes, and the Frenchman had all had efforts on goal, as the French giants were threatening to overwhelm their opponents.
Bayern's Aleksandar Pavlovic had already attempted four tackles by then, the most of any player on the pitch, indicating a real switch in the balance of play, though the 21-year-old would then set up Olise to rifle home a stunning equaliser with his second shot on target.
Just one of many completed passes in Pavlovic's 95.4% showing on the night, like many others, it was sharp and simple, and kept the likes of Vitinha on his toes all night.
The Portuguese's own 85.7% completion rate was way down by his lofty standards, and that was due in no small part to Pavlovic's industry.
His winning back of possession on 10 separate occasions - the most of any player from either side - was more than enough evidence of the same.
Hotly disputed penalty
Still, the two teams went toe-to-toe, and just before the break, Dembele gave PSG a half-time lead with a hotly debated penalty, after Alphonso Davies was harshly adjudged to have handled.
Despite an energetic first-half performance from the Ballon d'Or winner, he had only made four passes in the opening 45 minutes, and would only go on to make eight in the entire game - by far the worst of any starting XI player on the pitch.
The appreciation of space and movement from both sides was often a joy to watch, and a dynamic move down PSG's right got the finish it deserved when Kvaratskhelia smashed home a fourth before the hour, and his 10th of this season's competition.
Hakimi's assist was his seventh in Europe in 25/26, more than any of his colleagues, and the one touch he had in Bayern's box all game.
Dembele makes it five but Bayern hit back
His raiding down the channel is a big feature of PSG's play, of course, and his 10 passes in the final third were bettered only by Vitinha. 14 duels attempted, two chances created, and a 91.3% pass completion on the night was a fine return from the marauding right-back.
PSG weren't done because only two minutes later, Dembele looked to have taken the game well away from the Bavarians with the hosts' fifth goal.
A goal that marked a real moment in the game, for it ensured that, with an hour played, the semi-final now had as many goals as any other UCL semi in the competition's entire history.
Bayern's Dayot Upamecano, who'd been one of the leaden-footed defenders when Dembele scored, popped up at the other end to head a third for the Bundesliga giants.
The goal complemented his defensive work on the night: three successful tackles and three interceptions, and gave the visitors some renewed hope.
Hope that turned to joy when Luis Diaz expertly drilled home Bayern's fourth, silencing the Parc des Princes in the process.
A 100th goal that the Bavarians' front three had plundered this season, it might well be the most important the Colombian scores, as it, and Bayern's 77% possession in the 15 minutes before and after it, swung the pendulum ever so slightly back in their favour.
Though no further goals were scored, it wasn't for the want of trying, and with Kompany and Luis Enrique both suggesting there'll be more of the same in the second leg, football is most certainly the winner.
