Bayern Munich host Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday with the stage set for star turns from their 2022-23 additions Sadio Mane and Matthijs de Ligt.
With Bayern having received ten league titles in succession, the 2 big-name summer time recruits had been dropped at Munich primarily with European nights in thoughts.
Bayern return to the Allianz Arena with a 1-0 benefit after former PSG ahead Kingsley Coman’s second-half purpose on the Parc des Princes within the first leg, the identical scoreline and goalscorer of their 2019-20 Champions League last win.
Bayern want solely to keep away from defeat to make sure passage to the quarter finals.
But simply as it’s for PSG boss Christophe Galtier, Bayern supervisor Julian Nagelsmann is nicely conscious that elimination will go away a burn that home outcomes won’t be able to cleanse.
Nagelsmann mentioned as a lot after his facet’s tighter-than-hoped win at Stuttgart on Saturday, saying he hoped it was not the “result” however “the manner and style of our game (against PSG) is how the season will be seen.”
Early European exits are to not be tolerated within the Bavarian capital, whatever the high quality of their opposition.
Only as soon as have Bayern been knocked out earlier than reaching the quarter finals up to now ten years, a decade by which they’ve lifted the European Cup twice.
That elimination got here towards eventual champions Liverpool in 2018-19 and regardless of successful the league and cup double that very same season, the sting finally proved deadly for then supervisor Niko Kovac.
Mane’s midweek pedigree
After Bayern’s 2-1 win at Stuttgart on Saturday, Nagelsmann locked the dressing room door to offer a speech reminding his facet of the duty forward of them towards Paris.
“I told them that on Wednesday we have a very important game and that we need to bring our intensity,” the 35-year-old supervisor informed Germany’s Sky.
“They’re a difficult team to beat and are one of the best teams in Europe.”
Key to that depth and focus might be Mane, who has a behavior of acting on the European stage, together with scoring a go-ahead purpose for Liverpool on the Allianz Arena which helped safe Bayern’s elimination.
Mane made the transfer from Liverpool to Munich in the summertime of 2022 having appeared in three of the previous 5 Champions League finals, successful one and scoring in one other.
The ahead is line for his first begin in 4 months on Wednesday as he continues his return from a leg damage which dominated him out of Senegal’s World Cup marketing campaign.
Mane has made two appearances from the bench within the league since recovering from the damage and regardless of trying sharp has not but recaptured his finest type.
“It’s normal that he needs a bit more rhythm” mentioned Nagelsmann on Saturday after Mane’s 30-minute cameo from the bench on Saturday.
“We’ll wait and see on Wednesday whether he will start.”
De Ligt centered
Behind Mane within the centre of defence is de Ligt, the person tasked with shutting down PSG’s strike duo of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
Since transferring from Juventus, de Ligt took slightly longer than Mane to determine himself in Munich, initially coming off the bench.
France star Lucas Hernandez’s ACL damage in Qatar in November nonetheless gave de Ligt a possibility which he grabbed with each fingers.
De Ligt performed maybe his finest recreation for Bayern towards Stuttgart on Saturday, clearing a purpose off the road earlier than scoring one in every of his personal on the different finish of the pitch in a livid two-minute interval.
Even with news rising that Neymar will miss the tie, the Dutch defender mentioned on Saturday Bayern may have their fingers full with Paris’ “dangerous” duo of Mbappe and Messi.
“They are two very good strikers. It will be very difficult,” de Ligt informed Germany’s SID news company.
“We have to play a top game and be extra focused.”
Source web site: www.hindustantimes.com
