France legend Thierry Henry has sternly criticized the scoreline of the PSG vs. Bayern Munich Champions League semifinal clash.
The clash, which saw the Luis Enrique side narrowly edge Bayern Munich in a 5-4 thriller, attracted applause from football lovers; however, the former Arsenal star described the match as “street football.”
Speaking in an interview after the match, Henry noted that the match was devoid of a show of tactics from both sides.
“Listen, we need to have a serious conversation about what we are watching,” he said.
“For the fans, of course, it’s exciting, nine goals, end-to-end moments everywhere. Everyone is on social media screaming, ‘Oh, what a game! But is it? Really? We have to stop. We have to stop calling this ‘great football.’
“What we saw tonight… it was not a Champions League semi-final. It was street football. It was a playground. It was a ‘you score, then I score’,” he added.
He mentioned that the match lacked ”quality,” especially defensively.
“Where is the quality? Where is the defensive structure? I saw a semifinal tonight where the tactical approach was essentially ‘you score, then we score.’ It’s chaotic. It’s end-to-end, yes, but for all the wrong reasons.
”I have a lot of respect for the game, but this… this isn’t what a top-level European semi-final should look like,” he said.
The former Barcelona forward added that he will prefer a war-like semi-final clash.
“I don’t want a 5-4. Give me a 1-0 where every tackle felt like a war. Give me a game where the defenders actually defend. I didn’t see two teams that knew how to shut a door and lock it. It’s flashy, it’s ‘TikTok football,’ but the gem of the game is disappearing,” he noted.
“Everyone is chasing moments, highlights, numbers. But football isn’t just about shining individually. It’s about control, discipline, and collective responsibility,” he added.
PSG will visit the Alienz Arena on Wednesday to compete with Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final clash.
