The final four in the UEFA Champions League will be set this week. Four second legs will determine the semifinalists, with PSG, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City holding advantages after last week’s first legs. Can reigning champions Bayern Munich come back vs. PSG?
Staring down the barrel of elimination in the Champions League, holders Bayern Munich will endeavour to overturn a 3-2 deficit from the first leg of their quarter-final with Paris Saint-Germain when they do battle at Parc des Princes at 12:30 AM IST.
PSG are bracing themselves for yet another defensive job ahead. They had required a similar defensive strategy to beat FC Barcelona in the previous round.
The improvements and changes made up by PSG – after the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino – are starting to have its say. The French outfit have gone through a brilliant sequence of results in all competitions. Even though PSG may not have won the Champions League, the team has been giving the 110% for a while. Abdou Diallo, Juan Bernat, Marco Verratti, Mauro Icardi, Marquinhos, and Alessandro Florenzi are the players unavailable due to injuries and suspension.
A narrow home defeat has put defending champions Bayern Munich on the way of exit from the competition. One of the strong reasons to consider backing Bayern would be the away form, which reads unbeaten since 2017. Yet, the Germans are on a serious back foot after the first leg result, which gives a huge power spike to the hosts. Bayern are missing a number of players like Leon Goretzka, Douglas Costa, Jerome Boetang, Kingsley Coman, Lopez Hernandez, Robert Lewandowski, and Serge Gnabry.
Probable Lineup for PSG (4-2-3-1): Navas; Dagba, Pereira, Kimpembe, Diallo; Paredes, Gueye; Di Maria, Neymar, Draxler; Mbappe
Probable Lineup for Bayern(4-2-3-1): Neuer; Pavard, Boateng, Hernandez, Davies; Kimmich, Alaba; Sane, Muller, Coman; Choupo-Moting
Predictions:
PSG 1-3 Bayern Munich
PSG are unlikely to dominate this game and are primarily expected to play on the counter. However, they might find things difficult against a Bayern side who will look to be more cautious in their counter-pressing, with perhaps even a deeper defensive line. It could make it difficult for PSG to utilise the pace and quality of attackers like Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
Meanwhile, in the attacking unit for Bayern, they could potentially have things easier as PSG are without their defensive leader in Marquinhos. We are, therefore, expecting a 3-1 win for the Bavarians in this one, meaning the reigning European champions should qualify with a marginal 5-4 lead on aggregate.