Paris Saint-Germain books consecutive Champions League final berths after holding Bayern Munich to a 1-1 stalemate

Over the past year, Paris Saint-Germain has been the most electrifying team in Europe, but on Wednesday, Luis Enrique's side demonstrated a different facet of their game by holding off Bayern Munich to reach their second consecutive Champions League final.

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Their thrilling 5-4 victory in the first leg of their semi-final will be remembered as one of the greatest games in the competition's history, and in the return leg at the Allianz Arena, PSG secured a 1-1 draw to advance 6-5 on aggregate, thanks to a brilliant early goal and a heroic defensive effort.

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Ousmane Dembele scored within three minutes after a devastating counter-attack, and the French champions then focused on thwarting their hosts, with Bayern nearly failing to score in a game for the first time all season, until Harry Kane eventually equalised, but his strike came too late.

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Luis Enrique expressed his pride in his team's performance, telling broadcaster Canal Plus, "Tonight showed what type of team we are, we showed our maturity, being able to defend as well as attack, as a coach it was a pleasure to see that performance."

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Desire Doue added, "We can't always win with magic or extraordinary play, today we had to defend a lot but we defended very well," highlighting the team's ability to adapt and defend when necessary.

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The team's defensive solidity was led by the impressive Willian Pacho, who remarkably won all six of his duels on the pitch, while Warren Zaire-Emery was magnificent filling in at right-back in the absence of the injured Achraf Hakimi.

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Zaire-Emery has been a standout player for PSG, having played more minutes than anyone else for the team, and has recovered from a difficult last campaign when he was only a bit-part member of the side that won the Champions League.

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His work-rate, energy, and consistency have helped PSG overcome the fitness issues that threatened to derail them after an exhausting last campaign, which included a run to July's Club World Cup final and only a three-week off-season.

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PSG had been chasing glory in Europe's elite club competition since the Qatari takeover of 2011 but kept falling short, until they won the trophy for the first time last year, and now they are the first team since Liverpool in 2019 to reach back-to-back finals in the competition.

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A win over Arsenal in Budapest on May 30 will see them become only the second side in the Champions League era to retain the title, a feat only achieved by Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid from 2016 to 2018.

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Luis Enrique can now join Zidane, Pep Guardiola, Bob Paisley, and Carlo Ancelotti in winning the European Cup as a coach for the third time, having also won it with Barcelona in 2015.

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PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi praised the team, saying, "We have a magnificent young team in which everyone gives everything, and we have the best coach in the world," highlighting the team's success under Luis Enrique.

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Luis Enrique has transformed Ousmane Dembele into a Ballon d'Or-winning centre-forward and has helped make Khvicha Kvaratskhelia the best player in this season's Champions League, with the Georgian setting up Dembele's goal in Munich with a stunning breakaway.

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Kvaratskhelia has been the most decisive player in the knockout stages, with seven goals and three assists in eight games, and his performance has been instrumental in PSG's success.

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At one point, it seemed that the decision not to strengthen the squad after last season might backfire, especially with the departure of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to Manchester City, but nine of the starters from last season's 5-0 final demolition of Inter Milan in Munich started in the same stadium on Wednesday.

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PSG have now won all seven knockout ties under Luis Enrique when playing at home in the first leg, and they can look forward to a third Champions League final in seven seasons, with Samir Nasri, the ex-Arsenal star turned pundit, describing PSG as "terrifying" because they have shown they can hold on when things are difficult and defend well.