Champions League: against Bayern Munich, time for revenge for Paris Saint-Germain
PSG attackers Kylian Mbappé and Neymar in the match lost against Lille on April 3, 2021 at the Parc des Princes.
FRANCK FIFE AFP
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
3 min
The defending champion, Bayern Munich, receives Wednesday April 7th its runner-up for the 2020 edition. Nine months after being beaten by the Germans in Lisbon in the Champions League final, PSG will again cross swords for a place in the semi-finals.
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It's true, Paris will be able to count on its world-class goalkeeper, Costa Rican Keylor Navas.
Against Barcelona
in the
previous round
, he had offered the luxury of stopping a penalty from Lionel Messi.
Do without Marco Verratti
Except that last Saturday against Lille and the Parc des Princes, Paris missed the 31st day of the French Championship and perhaps even the title with a 1-0 defeat.
The Parisians have never given the impression of having entered their match.
And at the same time, Bayern Munich had gone to dismiss its runner-up Leipzig, now relegated to seven units.
Have the players in the capital let themselves be won over by nervousness?
Starting with Neymar?
The Brazilian, holder for the first time in nearly two months, after an injury to an adductor, was excluded after two yellow cards for bad gestures.
Another thorn in the side for Paris: do without the midfielder Marco Verratti, tested positive for Covid-19.
The other appointed collector, Leandro Paredes, is suspended.
Danilo Pereira, hit in a calf and spared against Lille is back in training and should be able to play the role, most likely with Senegalese Idrissa Gana Gueye.
The pandemic also deprives PSG of its right side Alessandro Florenzi, very likely contaminated with the Italian team.
Mauricio Pochettino, the coach, must now expect flashes from his trio of stars: Mbappé, Neymar and Di Maria.
Choupo-Moting holder to counter his former club?
An advantage for Paris - which will begin its seventh participation in the quarter-finals -
Bayern Munich
will have to do without the brilliant Lewandowski, the man with 35 goals in 25 games in total this season in the
Bundesliga
.
Cameroonian Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, a former Paris SG was recruited at the start of the season to be the Polish star's understudy, and was not unworthy when he had his chance.
He has scored twice already in the Champions League, against Lokomotiv Moscow in the group stage and against Lazio Rome in the round of 16.
With the league all but folded, the Champions League is now Bayern Munich's number one priority.
This season, Bayern remained undefeated to reach their 19th C1 quarter-final.
The record belongs to Manchester United with 25 matches in a row.
Paris must not come back empty-handed from its German trip.
Even less with a defeat.
A big challenge because Bayern has won in the Champions League nine of its last ten matches against French clubs, at home and away.
The only exception: a 3-0 loss in Paris in September 2017.
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UEFA Champions League