Three months and twelve days later, with the excitement, intensity and excitement of a World Championship in between, high-level club football returns to the Old Continent, already immersed in the decisive stretch of the competition, the Liga de Champions, in full round – trip qualifiers, with no margin for error, elevated by a duel that resembles a round of 16 final: Paris Saint Germain against Bayern Munich.
Current accounts, flashy footballers and an enviable history behind each club will meet first in the Parque de los Príncipes, next Tuesday, in the first leg, and at the Allianz Arena, in Munich, in the second leg, on Wednesday 8 March.
In the midst of a crisis, out of the cup and beaten by Monaco in Ligue 1, with the uncertainty of the presence of Kylian Mbappé and Leo Messi, the French champion faces another attempt at glory in an event that defies him. Despite the big bet that PSG makes every season to strengthen its side, it always falls halfway through any attempt to reach a crown that resists it.
Neither the French champion nor the German champion will face the event in the best of conditions. Both await the recovery of the best moment after the complicated return to the competition after Qatar 2022. Paris Saint Germain is eliminated from the French Cup, although it dominates Ligue 1 with solvency, more because of the misfortunes of its pursuers than because of authority exercised on the grass.
A loss to Stade Rennes and a draw to Reims are included in their recent league commitments. Christophe Galtier’s team is monitoring the physical condition of two of his most important stars. Leo Messi came out badly in the cup match against Marseille. And it is doubt. Also the Parisian star. Last weekend he was injured against Montpellier. He had to leave the playing field in a hurry.
Messi’s reunion with Bayern for the first time after that 2-8 nightmare with Barcelona is the most relevant event for the French champions who have choked on the latest clashes with the Bavarian club. Three of the last four meetings between the two have ended in German success. The 2020 final is particularly notable in Lisbon, the season of the pandemic, as Bayern claimed the title with Frenchman Kingsley Coman’s goal in the final. It was the last time PSG were this close to success in the Champions League.
A year later, the French team took revenge by beating their rival in the quarter-finals. Mbappé captained PSG in Munich where they won 3–2. Although they lost in the second leg (0-1), they managed to go through in the tournament, omitting the champion.
So far, Paris Saint Germain has not lived up to expectations in the Champions League. They could not become champions of their group and finished in second place, behind Benfica. The draw sentenced him to a train crash against Bayern, reinforced in the winter market with Manchester City winger Joao Cancelo.
The round of 16 starts this week, but will not be completed until a month later. Four games a week. Two every Tuesday and two every Wednesday.
To start with, the match between Milan and Tottenham will also be played on Tuesday at the same time as this Paris Saint Germain against Bayern Munich.
The coach of the London team Antonio Conte is back in action after the gallbladder operation he underwent earlier this month. But the Italian coach who once led Inter is back. Back in Milan, Conte focused on rectifying the London club’s situation after an irregular leg, amplified by the recent win against Manchester City.
The arrival to London of Arnaut Danjuma and Spaniard Pedro Porro have supported a growing squad in recent games that intends to capitalize on the bad moment of its rival, who are on the decline in Serie A and increasingly far from the top of the table. League. .
On Wednesday, the game between Club Brugge, one of the revelations of the competition, and Benfica, one of the good news of the tournament, is next.
The Belgian representative who eliminated Atlético Madrid in the group stage no longer has the same coach as then. The team’s bad moment in the local league led to the sacking of Carl Hoefkens, who qualified for the first time in its history for the team now led by Scott Parker to the round of 16.
The Club of Bruges calibrates the state of Benfica, one of the sensations of the group stage, but weakened by the departure of important footballers such as Enzo Fernández, Joao Victor, Henrique Araújo, among many and who had to relieve it with others from the subsidiary.
The first leg of the first leg of the round of 16 ends with a new weight showdown, that of Borussia Dortmund against Chelsea. A crossroads of two teams in different situations. The German representative, growing, aiming for the leadership of the Bundesliga, led by Jude Bellingham and enthusiastic about the recovery of its goalscorer, the Ivorian Sebastian Haller after overcoming testicular cancer, is measured against the England representative, in crisis and demanded by the big payout on the winter market.
Outside the European zone and eliminated from the rest of the competitions, they cling to the Champions League as a relief for this season in which they prematurely burned the cartridges of success. With Joao Félix, Enzo Fernández and Mykhailo Mudryk, he aims to impose his talent in the continental event and revive the success of two seasons ago.
The first leg of the round of 16 will be played the following week: on Tuesday with the matches between Liverpool and Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt against Napoli. And on Wednesday the 22nd, Leipzig awaits Manchester City and receives Inter Porto.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
