Champions League holders Bayern Munich face PSG in a repeat of the 2020 final. Ahead of the Champions League quarter final, Callum Owen previews the game.
Team News
Crucially for 2020 champions Bayern, they will be without star-striker Robert Lewandowski, who suffered a knee injury whilst on international duty. The Polish international is also a doubt for the second leg on April 13th.
Furthermore, Bayern will be without Corentin Tolisso, Douglas Costa and Marc Roba who have all been ruled out. In addition, winger Serge Gnabry will not feature after a positive Covid-19 test.
Covid-19 has also affected the PSG side ahead of the Champions League tie.
PSG will be without Marco Verratti and Alessandro Florenzi, who have returned positive tests.
Additionally, Leandro Parades will miss out through suspension and Daniel Pereira’s fitness is in doubt.
Form
Bayern Currently sit atop the Bundesliga, after stretching their lead at the top to six points following a 1-0 away victory at nearest challengers RB Leipzig.
The current champions are on a seven game unbeaten run, dating back to February 20th as they close in on a ninth successive league title.
For PSG, they find themselves locked in a four way battle for Ligue 1 supremacy.
Currently the defending Ligue 1 champions sit second, three points behind leaders Lille, whom they lost 1-0 last time out, with Monaco and Lyon just one and two points behind respectively.
A repeat of 2020
As previously mentioned, the tie between Bayern Munich and PSG is a repeat of the 2020 Champions League final.
When the two sides met in Lisbon last August, Bayern Munich were victorious, securing a 1-0 victory courtesy of a Kingsley Coman goal, winning their sixth Champions League.
However, going into the game there are differences.
PSG find themselves with a different manager, with Mauricio Pochettino in the dugout as opposed to Thomas Tuchel who departed at the end of December.
Whilst Bayern remain relatively unchanged from the two sides previous meeting, they will be hampered by the loss of Robert Lewandowski.
Prediction: Bayern Munich 1-1 PSG
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Top photo credit – (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
