In the first leg of the 1/8 round of the Champions League, PSG was defeated by Bayern Munich with a score of 0-1. Nonetheless, there are circumstances under which they are able to wade upstream and squeeze through the little aperture.
1. Prolific Mbappé
Mbappé, without a shadow of a doubt, appears to be the next player who has the potential to dominate the Ballon d’Or in the period after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. At the age of 24, he is already PSG’s all-time leading scorer despite having won the FIFA World Cup with France when he was just a teenager.
He pushed over Edinson Cavani and scored 201 goals as Paris defeated FC Nantes 4-2 on Saturday, and he would have reached the milestone a lot sooner if those two goals hadn’t been disallowed in the first leg of the match.
After the substitution of Mbappé for Carlos Soler with under thirty minutes remaining in regulation time at the Parc des Princes, Bayern had no answer for Mbappé. Expecting them to have a solution for you within the allotted time on Wednesday won’t do you any good.
2. M and M comes before MNM
Neymar Jr. suffered an ankle sprain, but his absence from the team may actually work out better for Paris Saint-Germain because the team appears to be more well-rounded without the Brazilian in the lineup.
As a result of the addition of Neymar to the ‘MNM’ striker three, Paris Saint-defensive Germain’s performance with the remaining 7 players was abysmal. Without him, it’s only 8, and in a sport with 11 players, returns of that quality count.
Mbappé and Messi have combined for 7 goals and 3 assists in the 2.5 matches that have been played since Neymar suffered his injury. Bayern will not be happy to see them on the field since they are the most feared duo in all of football.
3. Paris Saint-Germain has a strong attitude.
PSG is coming into the first leg of their match against Bayern after suffering two losses, the most recent of which being a loss in the Coupe de France Classique to Olympique de Marseille. A severe ʙʟᴏᴡ was delivered to the confidence.
Approaching this second leg on the heels of three consecutive victories, one of which was a rematch against Marseille in Ligue 1 – a game in which Mbappé and Messi worked together to score all three goals in a 3-0 victory – the team is in good shape heading into this encounter.
In other words, the confidence of PSG has increased once more. “It’s always easier to prepare for the big games by winning,” stated Christophe Galtier, head coach of Paris Saint-Germain.
4. The odds are in favor of the visiting team.
In the European arena, Paris and Bayern are quickly becoming adversaries of one another. Coman, who just scored in the first leg of the Champions League final, is also the one who scored the sole goal in the Champions League final in 2020.
Maurcio Pochettino’s Paris Saint-Germain team defeated Bayern with a score of 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the 2021/22 season. Bayern may have dominated back then, but these two teams have played each other four times since then, and each time one of them has won on the road. Mbappé ended the day with two goals to his name…
5) The name Sommer and a warning
After Germany were eliminated from the winter World Cup in Qatar, Bayern goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer injured his leg while skiing. As a result, the Bavarians hired Yann Sommer from Borussia Monchengladbach as Neuer’s successor.
Although Neuer and Switzerland’s No. 1 goalkeeper, Sommer, are virtually identical in almost every goalkeeping statistic imaginable, there is a significant disparity in the number of defensive actions outside the box: Neuer on average has twice as many defensive actions outside the box as Sommer did in the previous year.
Even though Sommer was not sent off particularly frequently himself, his propensity to stay in line resulted in the dismissal of Pavard in the first leg and Dayot Upamecano against Gladbach in the second match. The situation with a high ball and Mbappé charging in is one in which Bayern must pay close attention.
