15 March 2023 , 12:02
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Matthijs de Ligt was gifted 700kg of chocolate for his match-winning block against Paris Saint-Germain... but it was confiscated by his employers Bayern Munich.
Bayern knocked PSG out of the Champions League thanks to a 3-0 aggregate win against the Ligue 1 holders in the last 16. The German side are considered as one of the favourites to win the tournament after dumping out Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and co.
Although the scoreline suggests it was a comfortable win for Bayern, the result could have been very different if De Ligt had failed to block Vitinha's first-half strike. The aggregate score was 1-0 to Julian Nagelsmann's side at the time, as PSG targeted a comeback.
Bayern won the first leg in Paris 1-0. PSG sensed an equaliser in Munich when Bayern goalkeeper Yann Sommer was caught in possession and the ball squirmed to Vitinha. The Portuguese star hit the ball first time towards the empty net, but De Ligt denied him.
The Netherlands international produced a sensational sliding block to keep Bayern's clean sheet intact and spare Sommer's blushes. Sommer was thankful for De Ligt's stunning work and wanted to reward him by buying a huge amount of Swiss chocolate.
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"Inviting you for a drink won't be enough, I'll give you a Swiss chocolate truck," Sommer told De Ligt after his heroics.
Yet Bayern were not impressed. They stopped the truck from arriving at their training ground, leaving De Ligt without his sweet reward.
Matthijs de Ligt's goal-line clearance kept Bayern Munich in the lead (Getty Images)Do you think Bayern Munich were right to confiscate the chocolate? Let us know in the comments below!
A spokesperson for the chocolate company said, "10 minutes before Munich, the bad news: the official delivery of the Swiss chocolate truck to the club was not allowed. After more than three hours of driving, disappointment hit us strong."
The spokesperson added, "We did not know exactly what was behind it [the block], only that it came from Bayern. The chocolate will enter our regular distribution this week."
It is an interesting turn of events for De Ligt, who earlier in his career saw Manchester United turn down an opportunity to sign him after Marcel Bout, a scout appointed by Louis van Gaal, predicted De Ligt would gain weight and lose his pace and power in the future due to his father's weight problems.
Sommer, who joined Bayern from Borussia Monchengladbach in January after Manuel Neuer broke his leg while skiing, heralds from the Swiss town of Morges. The 34-year-old has represented Switzerland at five major tournaments and won 80 senior caps.
Sommer may have to wait until the end of the season to give De Ligt his unhealthy reward. Bayern's Jamal Musiala was full of praise for the defender during his post-match interview with BT Sport. He said, "I think we should intensity throughout the whole game.
"We started the second half strongly. We didn't let them have time on the ball in the final third. Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, we know what they're capable of. We controlled the game better. Overall it was a good game for us."
Muisala added, "We had to up our intensity. When we do that we're very difficult to beat. [De Ligt's clearance] brought us to life. Those little moments are key. We all have the mentality we can win this tournament. We just have to take it game by game."
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