Eight days on from an extraordinary opening encounter in the French capital, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain reunite at the Allianz Arena today in the second leg of their colossal Champions League semi-final.
The Bavarians and Parisians played out the highest-scoring UCL semi-final match in history at the Parc des Princes, where PSG held off a late turnaround from Wednesday’s hosts to emerge 5-4 winners.
An epic watch for the neutrals and nerve-wracking viewing for fans of either team, the PSG-Bayern pendulum swung back and forth during last week’s record-breaking first leg, in which defensive diligence was not on the agenda for either team.
Indeed, of the 10 previous occasions where Bayern have lost the first leg of a European semi-final, they have been eliminated nine times.
A nine-goal Champions League semi-final does not mean that both teams were bad at defending, in the eyes of current title holder Luis Enrique, who slammed that opinion when reflecting on his side’s narrow, but potentially priceless first-leg victory.
Prevailing by any scoreline in the opening fixture usually means success for Les Parisiens, who have won 36 of their 43 UEFA two-legged ties when triumphing in the first leg, and 14 of their 17 when that victory came by a single goal.
The away-day statistics make for extremely joyful reading for the PSG faithful, though, as the reigning European champions have won each of their last six games on the road in all competitions, while keeping clean sheets in each of their last five.
However, PSG shutting out Bayern on Wednesday would be the shock of all Champions League shocks at the Allianz Arena.
Both sides are also just a few strikes away from breaking Barcelona’s single-season record of 45 goals in the 1999-00 Champions League – PSG have netted 43 times and Bayern 42 – and either Arsenal or Atletico Madrid could have their work cut out in Budapest against Wednesday’s winner.
Bayern have no new injury concerns to worry about for the second leg, and Kompany is also hopeful that teenage sensation Lennart Karl will make a full recovery from a torn thigh muscle in time to be involved.
In contrast, PSG suffered a serious fitness blow in last week’s nine-goal spectacular, as flying full-back Achraf Hakimi pulled up with a hamstring injury, which will sideline him for a few weeks.
All of the evidence points towards another goal-laden affair between two worthy European champions, but the absence of Hakimi – the best defender in the world in the eyes of some – could prove devastating in an attacking and defensive sense for PSG.
Bayern have scored four goals in five of their last seven home games, and we back Kompany’s troops to put on another four-midable display, crush PSG’s dreams of successive Champions League titles, and advance to the final at the end of a 15-goal extravaganza.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
