Paris and Bayern meet in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg on Tuesday 14 February.
Paris and Bayern are finding each other hard to avoid of late; they have met in four of their last six campaigns, most notably when the Bavarians beat ‘PSG’ in the 2020 Champions League final. Julian Nagelsmann’s side won all six of their group stage games, but Paris went through unbeaten too. It took away goals to separate these sides when they last met, in the 2020/21 quarter-finals, and another close encounter seems inevitable.
Predicted line-ups
Paris: Donnarumma; Danilo, Marquinhos, Ramos; Hakimi, Verratti, Fabián Ruiz, Nuno Mendes; Vitinha; Messi, Neymar
Misses next match if booked: Sergio Ramos, Verratti
Bayern: Sommer; João Cancelo, Upamecano, De Ligt, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Sané, Musiala, Coman; Müller
Misses next match if booked: Kimmich, Mazraoui.
Form guide
Paris
Form (all competitions, most recent first): LLWWDW
Where they stand: 1st in Ligue 1
Bayern
Form (all competitions, most recent first): WWWDDD
Where they stand: 1st in Bundesliga, German Cup quarter-finals
Expert prediction
Jordan Maciel, match reporter
Paris coach Christophe Galtier has admitted he is “worried” ahead of this game. The French champions have had a turbulent start to 2023 and are licking their wounds from two consecutive domestic defeats. On a positive note, they will be boosted by the returns of Lionel Messi and Marco Verratti, while Kylian Mbappé is also expected to be back in the squad. Can the star-studded Parisians rise to the occasion?
What the coaches say
Christophe Galtier, Paris coach: “Bayern are a good side, a team that have won everything. Paris have been using two systems and I think we might start using a third in matches against teams of a certain level. I will ask the coaching staff to work on a new option. We need to find the most balanced model that will allow us to get the ball back as quickly as possible.”
Julian Nagelsmann, Bayern coach: “Paris are difficult opponents: we didn’t get any reward for our perfect group stage campaign. Just like us, they have a lot of world-class players, but this is the Champions League, so it’s to be expected that there are no easy opponents in the round of 16.”
Source: uefa.com