Champions League Preview | PSG vs Bayern Munich | OneFootball

PSG vs Bayern Munich is the Champions League semi-final that all football fans are looking forward to this week (sorry, Atletico and Arsenal fans). A tie fitting of any final, many believe the winner of this fixture will go on to win the competition. Two giants in their respective leagues, it should be a thrilling affair featuring some of the world’s best players. Here is your preview and team news for PSG vs Bayern Munich. 

PSG

The current holders of the Champions League will be looking to assert their dominance early on in this tie. Despite the away goals rule not being a thing anymore, there is always a slight disadvantage to playing the second leg away from home. For Paris, it’s about limiting Bayern in their attack and punishing them on the break. With the likes of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé, and Désiré Doué, PSG have more than enough to cause Bayern problems. Similar to how Real Madrid pushed Bayern in the previous round, PSG can expose Bayern’s occasional defensive frailties, particularly in one-on-one situations.

Domestically, the Parisians have a six-point lead in Ligue 1 with four games to play. Whilst they will still have to get over the line in the league, nothing is going to take the importance of the Champions League away from PSG and their fans. What’s more, as they were knocked out of the Coupe de France earlier this season, PSG will be desperate to do the double this season. For a club of their size, just winning the league will not be seen as a massively successful campaign. 

Bayern Munich

For Bayern, another historic treble is on the cards. Having already wrapped the Bundesliga, Vincent Kompany’s men are in the final of the DFB Pokal, and can now solely focus on their two fixtures in the Champions League. 

Despite conceding three goals last weekend in a thrilling 3-4 win over Mainz 05, the likes of Jonathan Tah, Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala, Michael Olise, and Josip Stanisic all started on the bench. 

Speaking after the game, Kane was aware that the first 45 minutes against Mainz cannot be repeated in Paris on Tuesday if they’re to get into the final: 

When it comes to the importance of controlling PSG’s counters, this is something that former Bayern and Germany captain Philipp Lahm is aware of. The World Cup winner told GGFN that he believes this is where this game can be won: 

Whilst Bayern will be carefully planning every aspect for the game against PSG, one man who will be playing a slightly different role is head coach Vincent Kompany. Following his yellow card against Real Madrid, he is suspended for the first leg and will have to watch from the stands. On the sideline, Aaron Danks will attempt to fill Kompany’s absence while being accompanied by René Marić and Floribert N’Galula. 

Team News

PSG

There are positive signs in the PSG camp ahead of this one. Previously, Vitinha had been absent due to injury, but has now returned to team training and is expected to feature in the game. Elsewhere, apart from youngster Quentin Ndjantou, PSG have their full squad in training and available ahead of tomorrow’s game. 

Bayern Munich

For Bayern, there are a number of players missing. Lennart Karl, Tom Bischof, Serge Gnabry, Raphaël Guerreiro and Sven Ulreich were all absent at training on Monday and will be unavailable for Tuesday’s match. Other than that, everyone else is available for selection. 

GGFN | Jamie Allen