Two domestic champions of their league, Paris Saint-Germain entertain Bayern Munich for a blockbuster round of 16 Champions League tie with the first leg at Parc des Princes.
The Parisians came second in their group while the Bavarians won all of the games at the stage to finish top.
PSG vs BAY Match Details
Date: Tuesday, 14 February 2023 / Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Time: 21:00 (CET) / 01:30 (IST)
Venue: Parc des Princes, Paris
PSG vs BAY Match Preview
Christopher Galtier’s men had a wobblier period post-World Cup which has caused a bit of worry. They are no more looking like the runaway champions in the league of the past. Having not been beaten in the first half of the season, PSG have now lost in three out of eight Ligue 1 games this year. The latest of them came only last weekend with AS Monaco inflicting a 3-1 loss at Stade Louis II albeit the visitors missing key players through injury. Arch-rivals Marseille also eliminated them, the holders, from the Coupe de France and also closed the gap with the table-toppers to five points in the league. Paris Saint-Germain has behaved like a disfigured unit in this period, something they are often accused of being in the Champions League. They got eliminated by eventual winners Real Madrid in the round of 16 stages last season with a star-studded squad and have a familiar foe this time around as well in Bayern Munich, the champions of Germany who beat them in their only Champions League final appearance in 2020. This trophy has eluded them for seasons now despite their squad building and will be on agenda again with more changes done at the board level. PSG would have asked for a more favorable tie but they could only finish behind Benfica although on goal difference to avoid any group-winners at this stage. Despite their inconsistency, the hosts for this game have won six of their previous seven Champions League games at Parc des Princes which is the record they are looking to try to settle the tie in the first leg itself.
Like PSG, Bayern Munich also had a slow start to 2023 by drawing three straight games with a 1-1 score-line in the Bundesliga. While they have picked up wins in the last two league games with a thumping victory in the cup, their lead at the top has been cut to just one with as many as three teams gunning for the title now. The reversal of form for Julian Nagelsmann recently has been down to Thomas Muller coming back among the goals and the shrewd loan move of Joao Cancelo from Manchester City. These two will now be influential on the European stage, in the hunt for the trophy they last won three years ago. Bayern were put into a difficult group alongside Inter and
Barcelona but they made it look easy by winning all the games in their group. They have the chance to win their seventh game in a row for only the second time in this competition after the 2019/20 season when they were crowned champions and finished with a 100% record. The German giants have also been quite good in the last 16 stages of the Champions League, escaping this round in nine of the last 10 seasons. Bayern have picked up five wins in 11 meetings against PSG but the last one ended in elimination from the quarter final stage in 2021. They have beaten the French giants only once on the road.
Recent Form (all competitions)
PSG: LLWWD
BAY: WWWDD
Recent Form (Champions League)
PSG: WWDDW
BAY: WWWWWW
PSG vs BAY Team News
Paris Saint-Germain run the risk of missing their famed front three for this huge round of 16 tie through but all of them are available now. Kylian Mbappe was the most likely one to be absent for the first leg although he made a speedy recovery from his thigh injury to make it into the squad. Renato Sanches and Nordi Mukiele are not so lucky as they are sidelined until next month.
Ryan Gravenberch, Noussair Mazraoui, Lucas Hernandez and Sadio Mane remain sidelined for Bayern Munich. However, Joshua Kimmich will return from suspension to partner Leon Goretzka in midfield. Thomas Muller was withdrawn at half-time with a calf issue in the weekend win over Bochum in the Bundesliga but he should be fit to start in midweek.
PSG vs BAY Predicted Lineups
PSG: Gianluigi Donnarumma; Danilo Pereira, Marquinhos, Sergio Ramos; Achraf Hakimi, Marco Verratti, Fabian Ruiz, Nuno Mendes; Neymar; Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe
BAY: Yann Sommer; Joao Cancelo, Dayot Upamecano, Matthias de Ligt, Alphonso Davies; Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka; Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala, Kingsley Coman; Thomas Muller
PSG vs BAY Dream11 Prediction
GK: Donnarumma (7.5)
DEF: Hakimi (8.5), Upamecano (7.5), Cancelo (8)
MID: Sane (8), Kimmich (9), Musiala (9), Neymar (9)
FW: Messi (9), Muller (8), Mbappe (9)
Vice-captain: Lionel Messi
Captain: Kylian Mbappe
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