Barcelona's tactical changes - Mbappé challenge
The three-goal reserve that Paris Saint-Germain scored in an away match against Barcelona would surely have dampened the French ahead of the return match at Parc des Princes.
But memories of the incredible rematch the Catalans won under similar circumstances in 2017, right up to the final whistle on Wednesday, will keep Ligue 1 champions and their fans on their toes.
Indeed, at a similar stage of the tournament four years ago, the Parisians had four goals ahead of their visit to the Camp Nou.
However, even this was not enough to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Luis Suarez, Leo Messi, Neymar (twice), Sergi Roberto and Laven Kurzava, taken by an own goal in the involuntary companions of the Spaniards, defeated PSG, for which only Edinson Cavani scored.
That failure so deeply touched the French fans that they still fear the development of events so deplorable for the favorites.
According to an RTL poll, the percentage of those afraid of red and blue revenge sometimes reaches 51!
No wonder the word "remontada" was recently included in the new version of the explanatory dictionary of the French language.
It appeared exactly after 6: 1 at the Camp Nou and received the meaning of an unexpected return of the team to the game with a subsequent victory, despite the fact that the gap was initially a big difference in points or the score.
Is a sensation on Wednesday possible?
Even Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman believes in this.
“If we are at the peak of efficiency, nothing is impossible.
Each game has a life of its own: it depends on how we start the match, how much energy we put in to complicate the opponent's task.
It depends on our effectiveness.
PSG showed this in the first leg.
But our team always creates chances, ”said the specialist at a press conference before the match.
He is also supported by Joan Laporta, who won the presidential elections for the club and returned to office 11 years later.
The optimism of the specialists is based on the excellent results of the team.
In Example, the Catalans do not lose 16 matches in a row, and they lost points only three times and invariably at home.
And since February 24, they have not missed at all, thanks to which the dry series of Marc-André ter Stegen stretched for 390 minutes.
This, as well as reaching the King's Cup final after a strong-willed victory over Sevilla in overtime, was aided by Koeman's tactical innovation.
Increasingly, the Catalans use three central defenders and two strikers as their base.
It guarantees greater reliability in destruction and allows you to insure against jerks of rival forwards from the depths.
That is, it offers an almost ideal model of countering the PSG system.
After all, the phenomenal result of Killian Mbappé at the Parc des Princes was largely possible thanks to such bursts into the free zones from the middle of the field.
The work of the Catalan defenders will be facilitated by the absence of the leader of the French attack, Neymar.
The official version is injury.
However, one glance at the calendar is enough to recall the "conspiracy theory" that has accompanied the Brazilian over the past years.
March 11 celebrates the birthday of Rafaella, the player's sister.
And from 2015 to 2019, he certainly found himself in Brazil next to a relative, taking advantage of either the disqualification that fell exactly for the right week, or the treatment of injuries.
In recent seasons, however, conspiracy theories have lost their strength.
But before the Wednesday match, the topic was updated again.
After all, the initial predictions that the ex-striker of Barcelona will spend at least 20-30 minutes on the field crashed against PSG's statement on Tuesday with a specific message - Neymar will miss the match.
Will not be at the disposal of Mauricio Pochettino and Moise Keena, the author of 11 accurate shots in 19 matches.
It undermines the attacking power of a team that hasn't knocked out the Spaniards in the Champions League playoffs since 2012/13.
You will have to rely only on Mbappe, who continues to amaze Europe with his performance - in the last four matches of the Parisians, the striker has seven goals.
Including a double that allowed PSG to overcome the resistance of Brest in the 1/16 finals of the Cup of the country.
However, the lack of variety in attack at a higher level threatens the French with serious vulnerability.
After all, even in Ligue 1 a couple of weeks ago, the champions stumbled when meeting with Monaco, having never scored - and this is with Keane on the field.
Now everything will be more complicated, even if the Parisians have not let their rivals with Parc des Princes go dry since October 2015.
Although the history of the modern Champions League has never known a case when a home defeat with a difference of three or more goals, a loser team turned into a victory sufficient to get into the next stage.
Liverpool are happy to trade Anfield for Budapest
The fact that the return match between Liverpool and Leipzig, due to covid restrictions, will take place outside Britain, the Premier League champion is a plus - no matter how paradoxical it may sound.
Indeed, in their field, the legendary Anfield, Jurgen Klopp's team looks depressing for a month and a half.
The Merseysides have lost six straight home games, setting a club record, and have not won eight - something that has not happened since 1952.
Moreover, matches were given not only to giants of comparable strength of the caliber Chelsea and Manchester City, but even outsiders - Fulham and Brighton.
Lost in the series and the principled derby to Everton, which hurt the fans of Liverpool as much as possible.
After all, after this misfire, the team dropped out of the Champions League zone for the 2020/21 season, and then rolled away from there by seven points.
And now, in order to stay in the tournament next year, it is easier for the Klopp team to win the remaining matches on the international arena, repeating the triumph of 2019, than to catch up with the quartet of the Premier League leaders.
It seems that the mentor himself has this plan in his head.
“Why can we win the Champions League?
Two reasons: firstly, our level, and secondly, football as such.
You always have a chance to win the next match.
We spent only the first half, the second is waiting for us.
I don’t doubt us.
We will fight right.
In the Champions League, we are on the move.
Leipzig have their own dynamics, having won their last four matches in the domestic arena.
But the previous results do not affect this game, ”Jurgen said.
Before the return leg of the 1/8 finals, Liverpool hit a comfortable two goals.
It's just that since they flew into the Leipzig goal, the British have no longer distinguished themselves at home, breaking the league record for strikes without goals.
In general, the champions of the Premier League are struggling to achieve success: in the domestic arena they have distinguished themselves only once from the game since the last meeting with Leipzig, although the link Sadio Mane - Roberto Firmino - Mohammed Salah was in good shape almost all this time.
With the Egyptian, according to media reports, the head coach's relationship went wrong.
The replacement of the forward in the match against Chelsea in the 62nd minute displeased Africa's best footballer of the decade.
His agent also reacted negatively through social networks.
After that, rumors spread about Salah's imminent departure from Liverpool.
Naturally, this does not give a positive atmosphere in the team, tense after a series of failures.
However, the Merseysiders play traditionally well with German bands.
Eight victories in 11 last matches, where the English did not know defeats.
Five clean sheets out of seven in knockout rounds.
Plus, on neutral ground, they stumbled only once.
In addition, Klopp knows very well the vulnerabilities of Julian Nagelsmann, whom he has already beaten in the Champions League.
And so on Wednesday Liverpool will start from a very comfortable position.
However, Leipzig is now in excellent shape.
Within the framework of domestic tournaments, they have a streak of eight victories, and only two are not “clean sheets”.
The Nagelsmann team scored a lot and for every taste.
The change in the schemes (sometimes four or five during the match) confused even the top opponents, which is why Leipzig gracefully bypassed even direct competitors, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayer.
Injuries to Marcel Halstenberg, Dominik Soboslai and Konrad Laimer, of course, limit the coach's ability to form an attacking game plan.
But it was not for nothing that Julian was even called from Hoffenheim to Real Madrid, as the Spaniards admired his ability to put together shock combinations and come up with cunning tactical moves even with a limited resource.
And as a voice in the locker room, the head coach became the most influential and motivating.
It was his shake-up during the half-time match with Mönchengladbach that allowed Leipzig not only to win back from 0: 2, but also to score the winning goal in the 93rd minute.
Whereas in the quarter-finals of the German Cup, after an inexpressive first half against Wolfsburg (the wolves dominated the field and did not score a penalty), Nagelsmann's speech in the locker room “woke up” the team - and turned the scenario of the match with a happy ending in the form of a 2-0 ending.
✅ Leverkusen
✅ Schalke
✅ Augsburg
✅ Hertha
✅ Gladbach
✅ Freiburg
Six @Bundesliga_EN wins in a row!
🔥
🔴⚪ # RBLeipzigpic.twitter.com / BGSNgevU7D
- RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) March 7, 2021
On the road in the Champions League, Leipzig, however, is not very good with strong-willed victories.
Especially with a gap of two goals - this team has only succeeded twice in ten previous attempts.
However, on Wednesday, the foreign field will be so only nominally: like the previous match of the 1/8 finals, the teams will play on a neutral pitch in Budapest, with the only difference that now Liverpool will be considered the host.