PREVIEW: Champions League holders PSG host Bayern in semi final first leg
PREVIEW: Champions League holders PSG host Bayern in semi final first leg Holders PSG host Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semi final on Tuesday, in what may prove to be the game of the tournament so far. The tie of the Champions League tournament so far gets underway at the Parc-de-Princes on Tuesday night as holders PSG host Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich, both lauded as the two best sides in Europe this season. PSG dismantled a jilted Liverpool side in the quarter-finals 4-0 to book their place in the semi’s, having previously romped to an 8-2 aggregate win over Chelsea, and have all but confirmed themselves as Ligue 1 champions once again.
Their German opponents are at present possibly the only team capable of nullifying PSG’s attack, with their front three of Harry Kane, Luis Diaz and Michael Olise blowing away almost every opponent they’ve faced. Kane has been in the form of his life this season, his 33 goals in 28 Bundesliga appearances on track to have his best scoring season for Bayern since he joined in 2023. His right hand man throughout the majority of this season has been former Crystal Palace winger Olise, who has 13 goals and 19 assists in his 28 appearances in only his second season at the club.
Former Liverpool winger Diaz has been hugely impressive in front of goal too, 15 goals and 13 assists means the front three have contributed to 53% of all of Bayern’s goals this season. A 10-2 aggregate victory over Atalanta in the round of 16 further showed their attacking prowess as is their incredible goalscoring record in the Bundesliga. The Bavarians have netted an incredible 113 goals in their 31 league games, having wrapped up the league already, their focus will turn entirely to completing this Champions League and league double.
Yet a double over 15 time winners Real Madrid in the last round put both Bayern’s strengths and weaknesses on full display, showing some frailty at the back that the pace of Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Jr were able to get some joy out of. Bayern’s high press proved too much for Madrid as it has been for almost any side at the moment. PSG’s left hand side took a heavy toll in their previous game when Désiré Doué and Nuno Mendes both went off injured in the first half, but they returned to first team training and are expected to feature for the Parisians on Tuesday night.
PSG will potentially be without two of their midfield starlets in Fabian Ruiz and Vintinha as the latter sustained a heel injury and has yet to return to first team training. Ruiz could be on his way to the first team again having missed the sides last league game but Enrique hasn’t ruled out the possibility of the Spaniard returning to the squad. As for Bayern, the newest absentee will be manager Vincent Kompany after the Belgian received his third yellow card of the competition meaning he will be absent from the dugout for the first leg in Paris.