It's all to play for in the second leg in Munich. After the spectacular and much-praised 5-4 defeat in a crazy first leg at Parc des Princes – the highest-scoring semi-final match in the Champions League or European Cup since 1960 – FC Bayern will be battling for a place in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain on what promises to be a sizzling Wednesday night at the Allianz Arena (live text and free Web Radio commentary from 21:00 CEST on fcbayern.com and in the FC Bayern app). The ingredients: two attacking machines, a narrow margin, a red-clad Arena – and the chance to write another chapter in European football history.
Final training, press conferences & more – all the updates from the day before the home match against Paris:
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Build-up to PSG second leg
Bayern go into the return game with a narrow deficit, but are well aware of their comeback qualities. In four out of 16 cases, the German record champions have managed to overturn a first-leg defeat in the Champions League era – although they’ve yet to do it in a semi-final. What’s more, they’ll have the backing of a packed Allianz Arena all in red. “You certainly notice when everyone's in red,” revealed Jonathan Tah at Tuesday’s pre-match conference. “What I notice most is that special atmosphere. Everyone was more involved against Real. It gives a huge push when the whole stadium is behind us, that can't be underestimated."
Paris also know they’re stepping into a special atmosphere, but coach Luis Enrique maintained that would motivate his team more than anything: “We admire Bayern, they play brilliant football. We have to play against the crowd, that's an extra motivation for us. We want to beat great opponents, that entices us to get the absolute best out of ourselves.”
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Particularly in attack, Vincent Kompany’s side are firing on all cylinders at this crunch stage of the season. In five knockout matches so far in the current Champions League campaign, FCB have already scored 20 goals – an average of four per game, the best since 1992/93. With 42 goals in the competition overall, Bayern are just behind Paris (43) at the top, with the all-time best of 45 goals well within reach.
The facts on the match:
What points to Bayern overcoming PSG
Top scorer Harry Kane has netted 13 of those goals, and is just two behind the club record in European competitions. Bayern also made 40 deep runs without the ball in the first leg, the highest figure in this season – Aleksandar Pavlović alone contributed 11 of those. Together with Joshua Kimmich, the duo played 24 line-breaking passes – more than the entire PSG midfield put together.
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“We're playing at home and want to win. The most important thing in the end is winning the game – that's the priority tomorrow,” stressed head coach Kompany at the press conference. “I experienced a lot of moments in my playing career. There’s no secret recipe before these matches. It’s important not to play the game a day in advance. Beforehand, it’s all about preparation and routines - once the game starts, you need the emotions.”
These comebacks in the Champions League offer hope:
Bayern’s Champions League comebacks that offer hope
Paris may have edged the first leg, but they don’t have an eask task in Munich – as history proves. PSG have lost five previous away matches at Bayern – more than against any other opponents. Only against Manchester City and Real Madrid is their losing percentage away from home higher. In the first leg, the Parisians were behind and then turned it around to lead 5-2 at one point, but the final score of 5-4 brought them back down to earth. “We went to Chelsea with a three-goal lead this year, everyone was nervous,” Enrique said at his press conference. “At Liverpool we had a two-goal lead and everyone said, if they concede a goal, it'll be tough. We're not going to go mad: Bayern can easily score a goal but so can we. Therefore, we don't want to protect a result but also win this game."
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Like Bayern, they draw most confidence from the attacking department. As mentioned, PSG are the highest-scoring team in this season’s Champions League with 43 goals. Key player Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been directly involved in 15 of those (ten goals, five assists) – a record for a PSG player in a UCL campaign. The Georgian netted twice in the first leg, as did Ousmane Dembelé. Paris have another big-game player in their ranks in Désiré Doué, who’s registered 13 of his 17 goal involvements in Europe’s premier club competition in the knockout phase – a record of his own before his 21st birthday.
Notably, the French champions have allowed the opposition at least 50 touches inside their penalty area in their last two matches – including the one against Bayern (52). So, there will be spaces for the Bavarians to exploit. Coach Enrique warned against a false sense of security, though. “It’s a small lead, and we saw in the first leg that either team could win,” stated the Spaniard. “We don't want to protect the result, we want to go for the win.”
A check on PSG's form:
Paris Saint-Germain held to draw by Lorient
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“The first piece of good news is that everyone is fit except for Serge,” declared Kompany with regards to the squad – a significant plus compared to last season. The team go into this semi-final showdown with fresh energy and strength in depth. Lennart Karl, Tom Bischof and Raphaël Guerreiro are also available again after their recent injuries.
Centre-back Tah therefore believes the team is well equipped for the challenge against PSG, despite the number of goals conceded recently: “We've spoken about it a lot and it's about little details so that we concede fewer chances. The most important thing is that we're aggressive and make the tackles. We need to win duels and second balls."
For the visitors, substitute goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, full-back Achraf Hakimi and winger Quentin Ndjantou are all sidelined by hamstring injuries. Warren Zaïre-Emery is likely to fill in for Hakimi on the right flank, where he’ll be up against Luis Díaz.
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Test your knowledge of the Champions League semi-final with our quiz:
Matchday Quiz: FC Bayern vs. PSG
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Dieser Inhalt kann hier leider nicht dargestellt werden. Zum Anschauen kannst du die Website des FC Bayern München besuchen: Artikel auf fcbayern.com
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