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Paris Saint Germain will host the reigning champions Bayern Munich for the second leg of the quarterfinals in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.
The Parisians have the upper hand as they will start the match with three crucial away goals, and the onus will be on Hansi Flick’s men to turn it around after their first-leg loss.
However, that task won’t be easy, especially without a horde of crucial players who are either absent because of injuries or are unavailable due to COVID-19. Bayern’s talisman Robert Lewandowski continues to nurse his injury, which he inflicted during his national duty for Poland while being away at the international break. Whereas Serge Gnabry will miss out on the crucial fixture after testing positive for COVID-19. Other key players like Leon Goretzka and Niklas Sule are also major doubts for the second leg in Paris.
Mauricio Pochettino also have a few decisions to make. Still, the best news is Italian midfielder Marco Veratti is set to be back for them, and they did miss his authoritative presence in the first leg. However, coming to injuries, the Parisiens will be without their captain Marquinhos. The latter scored against the Bavarians in the first leg and picked up an injury that is now reportedly a slight adductor tear.
So he is a major doubt for the upcoming fixture, and we may see Dutch youngster Michel Bakker playing in his position, or even Danilo Pereira may even play there if needed. In midfield, Leandro Paredes will also return after serving his suspension last season and will be looking to partner Idrissa Gueye in the middle of the park.
PSG will be coming to this fixture in great morale and will have that psychological edge over Bayern, considering they defeated them at their home in the first leg and will be confident of doing so again at the Parc des Princes. Apart from that, Pochettino’s men also defeated Strasbourg 4-1 recently and will look to carry that form into this game. Meanwhile, after that loss against PSG, Flick had to rest a lot of players and had numerous injury concerns. So he went in with a relatively young team against Union Berlin and despite Jamal Musiala scoring, the Bavarians could only manage a 1-1 draw.
Key Players
Neymar Jr. The Brazilian superstar, had a great outing against the German outfit in the first leg where he assisted for the first two goals which were scored by Mbappe and Marquinhos. The second pass where he found Marquinhos’ run was simply sensational. Neymar stayed deep, picked up the balls and was the orchestrator of PSG’s counter-attacks as he combined well with Mbappe, Draxler and Di Maria. He will look to replicate that performance in the second leg, and as he was suspended in the midweek Ligue fixture, he will be fresh for this one.
Kylian Mbappe. The young Frenchman has to be the critical factor for Parisians as he showed his mettle in the first leg. Mbappe broke through Bayern’s high line defence multiple times as he left them for dead. He scored twice and could have added to his brace very easily had he been more clinical in the final third. Mbappe has been in fiery goalscoring form and will look to replicate that form against the Bavarians this time at their den. The 22-year-old is currently second in the Champions League goalscoring charts, with eight goals only behind Erling Haaland this season.
Thomas Muller. The team will need a special performance from their local lad at Paris to go through to the next round. Muller scored in the first leg and gave a momentary equaliser for the German outfit. However, the 31-year-old will look to be a lot more clinical as he had several chances to convert, and he was not up to the task, especially in the first half. Therefore Flick will expect one of his most experienced players to step on when his partner in crime, Lewandowski, is absent. If Bayern needs to go through and turn this tie over, they need Muller to lead the charge.
Joshua Kimmich
Irrespective of all conditions, Kimmich is a very vital cog in Flick’s system. Even against PSG in the first leg, he created ten chances, most by a player in a single UEFA Champions League match at the quarterfinal stage or later since Mesut Özil for Real Madrid v Tottenham in April 2011. If Bayern wants to go through, they will need another masterclass performance from Germany, as he will be looking to dictate terms in the middle and ping balls upfront.
Prediction
Like most of the Champions League quarterfinals, this is hard to predict, especially when two attacking teams lock horns. Bayern Munich certainly need to win by a difference of two goals so they will be looking to attack from the get-go and the hosts will be more focused on dropping deep and absorbing all the pressure. Bayern will need to convert their chances in this match, something they lacked in the previous game. So if they just add finishing to their last performance, who knows, they may shock Parisians. But for now, it is heavily tilted towards PSG despite all the fight that the Bavarians have promised. The fact that Bayern misses many important players may very well be the difference between the two sides.
