"It was necessary to close the spaces" - Dayot Upamecano explains how Bayern Munich contained PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe in UCL tie

Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano believes communication and closing down spaces helped his side keep Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward Kylian Mbappe quiet.

Bayern hosted the Parisians at the Allianz Arena in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie on Wednesday, March 8. The Bavarians held a 1-0 lead after last month's first leg in Paris and followed that up with a 2-0 win at home to qualify for the quarterfinals.

Prior to the match on Wednesday, Kylian Mbappe was viewed as the biggest threat to Bayern Munich's first-leg lead. However, the German giants' defense, led by Dayot Upamecano and Matthijs de Ligt, kept him and fellow superstar Lionel Messi in check for most of the game.

Speaking after the contest to Canal Plus, Upamecano explained how they limited Mbappe's impact on the match (as quoted by PSG Talk):

“We knew that it was necessary to close the spaces and, above all, to slide well. Afterward, it also starts from the communication between De Ligt, [Josip] Stanišić and me. We did it very well. The coach had asked uzs to slide well and we did it well. We did our job.”

The French centre-back went on to add that Bayern were hardly troubled by the Parisians:

“I don’t think Paris bothered us a bit. We expected that; we knew it would be a difficult game for both teams. We knew that they often wanted to play with Kylian Mbappe in depth.

“I tried to manage it, but it was a bit complicated. I knew he was going very fast, but it was a team effort today. The coach had warned us that we had to be ready. We have been and we are very happy.”

Mbappe ended the match on Wednesday with just 32 touches and 14 completed passes. The Frenchman got just one of his four shots on target, recorded zero key passes and completed none of his three dribble attempts.

Upamecano, meanwhile, put in a dominant display, registering three tackles, including a last-man effort, a clearance and an interception. He also won all four of his ground duels and completed 51 of his 52 pass attempts.

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Kylian Mbappe's struggles against Bayern Munich continue as PSG lose once again to Bavarians

Kylian Mbappe boasts a superb UEFA Champions League record for PSG, having scored 34 goals and laid out 26 assists in 52 appearances in the competition. However, his record against Bayern Munich doesn't make for great reading.

The Frenchman has scored just three times in seven matches against the Bavarians. Wednesday's game marked the Parisians' fifth defeat and third consecutive reverse in those meetings, with the last of their two wins coming in 2021.

It is worth noting, however, that Mbappe has still enjoyed an extremely productive 2022-23 campaign for PSG. He has scored 30 goals and laid out eight assists in 31 matches across all competitions this term.