Berlin (AFP)

"CL's dream collapses", "Surrealist drama for Bayern": the German press wonders Wednesday how the "Rekordmeister" could have been eliminated by Paris SG, and also retains that Neymar, hailed for his performance, has well-chambered Kimmich after the game.

"The defending champion is out of the Champions League, and the 1-0 return leg in Paris is Hansi Flick's bitterest victory," commented Bild, the popular daily.

After the first leg, won 3-2 by Paris, Joshua Kimmich said that Bayern would qualify on the return leg because they were "the best team".

This Thursday, several media reported these remarks by Neymar at the final whistle on Brazilian television, in response to the Bayern midfielder: "You can have possession of the ball as long as you want, you can pick up a girl all night long but if a guy arrives and he stings it from you in five minutes, the girl has left ".

Followed by a big laugh!

Others, however, underline the performance of the Brazilian: "He danced around David Alaba, he spun under the nose of Jerome Boateng. Only Manuel Neuer opposed his world class", notes the Spiegel.

Neymar did not score, adds Kicker magazine, "but he left his mark on this quarter-final return (...) he could just as well have achieved a quadruplet".

In Munich, the daily SZ analyzes the reasons for the failure: "The fatigue after the exhausting season of the Covid-19, the absence of Lewandowski, the missed opportunities of the first leg", and underlines that the internal conflicts of Bayern must also be taken into consideration to understand the current situation.

Because the big topic of the German media Wednesday is especially the future of the trainer Hansi Flick, winner of the treble last season but apparently on the departure because of his open conflict with the sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.

"It was Hansi Flick's last Champions League match with Bayern," Lothar Matthäus, former glory of Bayern still very close to the club, said live on television.

According to him, Flick will take over from Joachim Löw in the national team, and Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann has already been approached by Bayern to succeed him.

On Sky after the game, Flick let loose in a five-minute monologue about his moods, never saying he would stay at Bayern.

"He gave himself air, in words that can almost be interpreted as a farewell speech to FC Bayern," comments the site t-online.

"It is at the very least unlikely that this coach will stay," insists the SZ.

Sky on Tuesday ran an online poll of Bayern fans to find out if they would prefer it to be Flick or Salihamidzic who remained: 96% of respondents voted in favor of the coach.

© 2021 AFP