Clash of the titans. Tomorrow evening, the Parc des Princes will be transformed into a real arena for the meeting between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. In the red corner, the Germans will not have all their strength for this meeting on French soil. Five players will be missing, namely Serge Gnabry, Raphaël Guerreiro, Sven Ulreich, Lennart Karl and Tom Bischof. In the blue corner, Luis Enrique and Paris feared the worst after the more or less recent injuries to certain executives including Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz. Finally, apart from Quentin Ndjantou, everyone is operational for this semi-final first leg. An announcement that brought joy to all fans of the club in the capital. Less than those of Bayern Munich.
On the other side of the Rhine, we necessarily follow the every move of the Ile-de-France residents very closely. This was again the case this Monday, on the eve of the meeting. As soon as the PSG medical update was published, the German press reacted. Sky Germany spoke of a “good news for PSG” before adding: “Paris Saint-Germain, defending champion, should be able to count on almost its entire squad for the Champions League semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich on Tuesday at 9 p.m. Coach Luis Enrique notably included Vitinha and Achraf Hakimi, recently unavailable due to injuries, during the last training session on Monday. Also present was Vitinha’s Portuguese compatriot Nuno Mendes, who had made a brief return to Angers after recovering from a thigh injury. »
A complete PSG which worries
The tone is a little more pessimistic on the side of Sports 1who does not view this feedback very favorably. In an article titled “Bayern has something to worry about”the German publication wrote: “PSG seems to expect the return of all its key players. Bayern Munich is worried (…) The stars of PSG are preparing for the clash against Bayern. Same on the side of Bild. “Good news for PSG and bad for Bayern? As the semi-final first leg of the Champions League against Bayern Munich approaches, everything suggests that Paris Saint-Germain will be able to field an almost typical team. During the final training session on Monday, all key players were back on the field, including the recently injured Vitinha (26) and Achraf Hakimi (27).
The German publication continues: “Moreover, coach Luis Enrique has recently been able to breathe new life into several stars. Ballon d’Or Ousmane Dembélé, as well as attackers like Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, were spared in the championship; they should now be fresh and ready. Logical, because PSG wants to attack Bayern at full strength. In Germany, we particularly fear the winning machine driven by Luis Enrique. The collective strength of Parisians is frightening on the other side of the Rhine. “Despite being eliminated, Real Madrid proved that even this Bayern Munich team can be defeated. Defensively, Munich’s individual marking was feverish during the two quarter-final meetings, and they will face a similar challenge in the semi-final against PSG’s dazzling attack.
Advantages on almost all lines
“When Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desiré Doué, Bradley Barcola or Ballon d’Or Ousmane Dembélé shift into high gear and accelerate, the German champions are in great danger – and can potentially demonstrate even greater efficiency and determination than Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappé. Warning: PSG’s dizzying speed is now accompanied by a rather direct touch technique. PSG’s style of play offers Bayern Munich much greater danger potential, even a year after the greatest success in their history. Danger, one might think, is omnipresent. Luis Enrique’s team does not use speed only on its attackers. The full-backs Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes, who stretch the play even more than last season – which does not prevent them from moving into the center and exploiting the half-spaces – often project themselves forward. »
Kicker is also afraid for his midfielder, who will have to face Parisian talents. Vitinha, João Neves, Fabian and Warren Zaire-Emery never seem to stop chasing the ball when they don’t have it – and when they have it, you have to take it from them. The two Portuguese and the Spaniard, in particular, demonstrate exceptional precision on the ball and passing quality, capable of forcing their opponents to chase the ball indefinitely through incisive and direct play – and they do. Their constant movement without the ball and generally high pace will put a strain on the individual marking of Bayern Munich’s defenders. All this, without counting Lucas Beraldo, repositioned in the midfield and compared to Sergio Busquets by Luis Enrique.
Safonov, the weak point?
All this worries Kickerwho believes that the Kimmich-Pavlovic duo will have a lot to do and could find themselves inferior in the heart of the game. Ditto in front where Ousmane Dembélé, who we know well in Germany since his time at BVB, is scary. But the German press also believes that Vincent Kompany’s team also has many assets to bring down Paris, starting with its attack on the late Michael Olise, Harry Kane and Luis Diaz. A trio which can make the Ile-de-France defense dizzy and which has already sparked during the 2-1 victory in the C1 championship phase on November 4. At that time, Lucas Chevalier was in the Parisian cages. He has since been demoted and replaced by Matvey Safonov. A goalkeeper who is not really feared in Germany.
“Matvey Safonov remains the starter. Although he is a good goalkeeper who has made some great saves recently, he is probably not the exceptional keeper that PSG had in Gianluigi Donnarumma last season. The Italian goalkeeper was then more or less removed to start Lucas Chevalier, a more technical goalkeeper. But Chevalier showed signs of weakness on several occasions, got injured and has since lost his place to Safonov’s understudy. If the reigning champions have a weak point, it may be in the goalkeeper position – Bayern have already taken advantage of this with Andriy Lunin in the Real Madrid cages.” Unless there are any surprises, it is the Russian (22 matches in all competitions, 20 goals conceded, 11 clean sheets) who will start tomorrow evening. And he will have the opportunity to respond on the pitch to show Bayern Munich and Germany that he is anything but a thorn in PSG’s side.
