After months of waiting, the Round of 16 matches of the 2022/2023 UEFA Champions League are finally here, with a double-header of Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich and AC Milan vs Tottenham Hotspur to kick start the busy and highly-anticipated schedule. The former is clearly the most intriguing cup-tie in this knockout round of the Champions League as both teams are the respective leader in this season’s French Ligue 1 and German Bundesliga 1. The first leg will be played at Le Parc des Princes, PSG’s home tonight while the returning fixture will take place at the Allianz Arena in Munich three weeks later. Let us preview some of the important things about this match right away!
Bayern Munich Only Won Once at PSG’s Turf
Both teams had played each other a total of 11 times in the past, with Bayern Munich leading their head-to-head record with six wins as compared to Paris Saint-Germain’s five. Furthermore, their scoring record against one another is hanging in the balance as they both scored 15 goals past their opponent tonight in their previous match-ups. Another interesting fact about this fixture is that Bayern Munich has only won once in their last five meetings against PSG at Le Parc des Princes, but the victory came during the last match between the two. The clash saw Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s strike unable to prevent PSG to emerge victorious over aggregate score line in the 2020/2021 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal.
That being said, Bayern Munich’s results in this season’s Champions League had been on a different level as the team is the only one to have won all six of their group matches, scoring an incredible sum of 18 goals and conceding only twice in more than 540 minutes played. This brilliant form makes them the favourite in this clash, despite PSG having arguably the deadliest strike force of every football team in the world.
Kylian Mbappé Out?
The 2022 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot winner picked up an injury during Paris Saint’s Germain’s 3-1 triumph over Montpellier HSC earlier this month and missed the club’s next three matches. The French Ligue 1 powerhouse clearly missed his presence as the team has now lost two consecutive matches in all competitions, bowing out of the French Cup during the process.
When asked about this matter, Bayern Munich’s 35-year-old manager Julian Nagelsmann already predicted that the Frenchman will feature in the first leg of the match, stating that “I don’t think he will be missing [against Bayern] so I expect nothing else. I don’t know what he has so I assume he will play. It is a bit vague on their [PSG’s] homepage saying he would be out for up to three weeks.”
Nagelsmann’s forecast may soon turn into realities as Mbappé, a joint top scorer in this season’s Champions League with seven goals, had resumed training with Paris Saint-Germain, alongside the 2022 FIFA World Cup winning-captain Lionel Messi. Moreover, the France national team player had also been named in PSG’s squad that will face Bayern Munich. The news is certainly a huge boost to Christophe Galtier’s side, as the team is ambitious to hunt for an inaugural Champions League title under its name.
Kylian Mbappé and Leo Messi both train with PSG the day before their Champions League game vs. Bayern
Both forwards were doubts for the last-16 first leg pic.twitter.com/QeDt7RftFN
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 13, 2023
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