PSG was pipped to the top spot in Group H by Benfica by means of away goals scored, the fourth possible tiebreaker having both finished on 14 points, and each scoring 16 goals to seven conceded. This gave them a tie against Bayern, who finished well clear of the chasing pack in Group C.
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PSG's last game saw them lose 3-1 away at Monaco, their third league defeat in seven since returning from the World Cup. A bright spot was young forward Warren Zaire-Emery scoring his second senior goal, and the 16-year-old started alongside Neymar and Lionel Messi in the front three. Kylian Mbappe also returned from injury and started on the bench.
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN XI (4-4-2): Gianluigi Donnarumma; Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Sergio Ramos, Nuno Mendes; Warren Zaire-Emery, Danilo Pereira, Marco Verratti, Carlos Soler; Lionel Messi, Neymar.
SUBS: Sergio Rico, Alexandre Letellier, Presnel Kimpembe, Kylian Mbappe, Fabian Ruiz, Juan Bernat, Vitinha, Timothee Pembele, El Chadaille Bitshiabu, Ismael Gharbi, Hugo Ekitike.
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Bayern's group campaign saw them go head-to-head with Inter and Barcelona, but Julian Nagelsmann's side won all six games to finish with maximum points and a 100 percent record. These two sides met in the 2020 final, which Bayern won 1-0.
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The 2020 European champions started with Kingsley Coman on the left wing, who scored the winner in that behind-closed-doors final nearly three years ago. The Frenchman, a PSG academy product, has scored three goals in his last two games for Bayern, and his most recent win in a 3-0 win over Bochum extended the Bavarians' unbeaten Bundesliga run to 13 games.
BAYERN MUNICH XI (4-2-3-1): Yann Sommer; Benjamin Pavard, Dayot Upamecano, Matthijs de Ligt, Joao Cancelo; Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka; Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala, Kingsley Coman; Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
SUBS: Sven Ulreich, Johannes Schenk, Serge Gnabry, Alphonso Davies, Bouna Sarr, Daley Blind, Thomas Muller, Ryan Gravenberch, Mathys Tel, Josip Stanisic, Arijon Ibrahimovic.
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Bayern tweaked their starting formation to a 3-2-4-1, with Pavard and Sane drifting into more central positions and Cancelo switching to right-wing-back with Coman doing the same on the left.
PSG looked relatively happy for Bayern to have the ball, with their strategy being to hit the Bavarians on the break at any given opportunity. However, that's one risky game plan against a team possessing the quality Bayern has, and the visitors looked increasingly likely to be the side to score first here.
It's been almost all Bayern so far, to the extent that it's the first time since April 2015 (vs. Barcelona) that PSG had failed to register a single attempt on goal in the opening 30 minutes of a Champions League game!
⌚️ 20' - 💪 @SergioRamos #PSGFCB I #UCL pic.twitter.com/MFkWZMZ0rw
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) February 14, 2023
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It's 0-0 at the break, and PSG was extremely lucky this game was still goalless. The hosts left a void in their midfield which Bayern exploited time and time again; however, brilliant defense, led by Ramos in particular, restricted the number of good chances the visitors had been able to create. Forced to play counter-attack with Messi and Neymar far from speedy target men these days, PSG offered nothing and should be delighted to still be level.
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While players like Messi, Neymar, Verratti, and Marquinhos were struggling, the man Sergio Ramos alone was too much to handle for Bayern. If Neymar wasn't biased toward Messi, Ramos might have given them an early lead. He defended his box, and at the end of the counter, he was there to score. Neymar chose to cross the ball towards Messi when Ramos was thriving on the edge of the box, deceiving the Bayern defenders.
𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚘 𝚁𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚜'𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚜:
| Fouls Made | 1 |
|---|---|
| Possession Lost | 1 |
| Total Shots | 1 |
| Was Dribbled Past (Best) | 0 |
| Clearances (Highest) | 7 |
| Interceptions (Highest) | 3 |
| Touches (Highest) | 83 |
| Was Fouled | 1 |
| Passes Completed (Highest) | 61/64 (95%) |
| Long Passes Completed (Highest) | 8/10 (80%) |
| Dribbles Completed | 1/1 (100%) |
| Ground Duels Won (Highest) | 4/6 (67%) |
| Aerial Duels Won (Highest) | 5/7 (71%) |
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𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚝𝚎𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚋, 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟶 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏. 𝙷𝚎'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚜, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝, 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚒𝚡 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗 𝟾𝟿 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚍. 𝙷𝚎'𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚞𝚎𝚕𝚜, 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚍.
🅢🅞🅤🅡🅒🅔
𝗣𝗦𝗚 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟭 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗶𝘅 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝗻, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 (𝟭𝟱).
𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟵-𝟮𝟬 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝗕𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 (𝟴𝟲.𝟱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 (𝟯𝟮) 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺. 𝗔𝗻𝗱, 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟯𝟳 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗲 - 𝗻𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿.
⭐ 𝙈𝘼𝙉 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙈𝘼𝙏𝘾𝙃 ⭐
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) February 14, 2023
Félicitations, King! 😍#MiaSanMia #PSGFCB pic.twitter.com/kryUKTtGdF
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The game was precisely telling the same story. It was mostly Bayern all over the pitch. It took 53 minutes to get what they deserved. GOOOOOAAAALLL!!! Bayern got the breakthrough, and it's that man again!!! Choupo-Moting teed Davies up to cross from the left, and the Canadian's cross flew over everyone's heads and fell to Coman, who side-footed the ball underneath Donnarumma on the volley to give the visitors a deserved 1-0 lead! He looked lively on the left in the first half, and his switch to the opposite side yielded a goal in the second! Donnarumma could have done better; it was on him.
𝘽𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 15 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙛 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣.
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Bayern won all six of their Champions League games this season, scoring 18 goals and only conceding twice. They've only won their first seven straight once in this competition, doing so in 2019-20 as they won every single game they played, the last of which was against PSG in the final. They were in the mood to repeat that once again.
HIGHLIGHTS
𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟽-𝟷𝟾 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗, 𝙼𝚋𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝟻𝟽 𝚐𝚘𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝟻𝟶 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝟹𝟺 𝚐𝚘𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝟸𝟹 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜. 𝙷𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝟸𝟶+ 𝚐𝚘𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚍.
His introduction changed the entire nature of this game, notably giving Neymar and Lionel Messi much more freedom to do what they do best after the pair were passengers for much of the first hour. Neymar, in particular, became significantly more dangerous, finishing the game with three shots, one of which was on target, and nine touches in the box from five final-third entries. He completed a key pass and four crosses, with a final-third passing accuracy of 92 percent, as well as making two clearances and winning two free-kicks.
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About Messi, I don't know what to say. As far as I remember, he has lost possession the most. While PSG relied on the counter, he had too many touches and fewer passes. Instead of passing, he chose to dribble and lost possession in dangerous situations, leading to counters. He didn't have a good time, as the dribble succession rate was 50-50.
A 1-0 away win gives Bayern the advantage going into the second leg, with the Bavarians likely to be confident their unbeaten home record this season will stay intact. The March 8 clash at the Allianz Arena will see PSG need to attack from the off in order to reverse their deficit, but if Kylian Mbappe is indeed fit enough to start that game, have no doubt that he and his team-mates are willing to do precisely that in Munich.
🅷🅰🆅🅴 🅰 🅽🅸🅲🅴 🅳🅰🆈 ❗ 🅰🅳🅸🅾🆂 ❗
