CBS Sports has put Bayern München and Paris Saint Germain near the top of its Champions League semifinal ranking, and the case starts with the first leg in Paris. The match finished 5-4, with nine goals in 90 minutes, and CBS says that level of chaos makes it one of the most memorable knockout nights in the competition’s modern era.

Why the first leg stands out

CBS Sports' own wording is blunt enough. "The first leg was clearly one of, if not the, best matches of recent years," the piece said.

That is a strong claim, but the evidence underneath it is clear. Bayern München scored four and Paris Saint Germain scored five in the same game, and the scoreline kept moving until the end. CBS also stressed the "constant twists" and "incredible drama" that came with those nine goals in 90 minutes.

It is the kind of semifinal first leg that does the ranking work for you. A 5-4 game in Paris is not just a high-scoring oddity, it is the sort of night that forces comparison with the competition’s most dramatic ties.

The other semifinal nights CBS used as the benchmark

The ranking does not hang on this one match alone. CBS framed it against some of the most famous late swings the Champions League has produced.

There was Liverpool's 4-0 comeback against Barcelona at Anfield in 2019, a result that remains one of the cleanest semifinal turnarounds in the competition. There was Tottenham's 2019 collapse and rescue against Ajax, when Lucas Moura scored a hat-trick and the winner came in the 96th minute. CBS also pointed to Inter's 2010 win over Barcelona, when Inter played more than 70 minutes with 10 men after Thiago Motta's red card.

Those are different kinds of semifinal memories, but they all share the same quality: the game kept changing when it should have settled. Bayern München and Paris Saint Germain joined that group because their first leg never really calmed down.

CBS’s ranking is a reminder that semifinal greatness is not only about control or quality. Sometimes it is about whether the match keeps breaking open, and the 5-4 in Paris did exactly that.

The next part of the debate will always be subjective, because any list of the best semifinals has to choose between different kinds of drama. But on the evidence CBS laid out, this one belongs in the conversation, and the 9-goal first leg is the reason.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →