The UEFA Champions League brings together some of the biggest names in European football and that’s exactly what we are going to get on Wednesday night. Group A has brought together two giants of the European game as Paris Saint-Germain welcome Real Madrid to the Parc des Princes.
With Club Brugge and Galatasaray completing the group, both teams should go through but finishing top can be very important.
PSG resumed the defence of the Ligue 1 title on the weekend as they narrowly scraped past Strasbourg at home. It took a spectacular injury time winner from Neymar to seal the points although the Brazilian was subject to boos from the home crowd.
That victory means PSG sit top of the league in France having won four of their five games. They have suffered one defeat and that came at Rennes in the second match of the campaign.
Trends show PSG have lost only one of their last seven Champions League matches but it was a costly defeat at home to Manchester United in the Round of 16 last season. At home, PSG have lost only two of their last fifteen Champions League games with the second defeat coming against Real Madrid in the knockout stages of the 2017/18 season.
Each of the last eleven Champions League games at the Parc des Princes have seen over 2.5 goals scored and each of the last six have seen both teams score.
Real Madrid got their La Liga campaign back on track with a 3-2 win over Levante on Saturday. Having been held in each of their last two La Liga games, it was important to get back to winning ways and Real Madrid took a 3-0 lead in the match. However, Levante pulled 2 goals back and it could easily have been a different story.
Nonetheless, Real Madrid remain undefeated this season and have won two and drawn two of their four La Liga matches.
Trends show Real Madrid have lost two of their last three Champions League games, with both defeats coming at home. Away from home they have won each of their last three, beating Viktoria Plzen, Roma and Ajax. Real Madrid have lost only one of their last eight away Champions League matches, winning the other seven.
⏳ ¡No podemos esperar más! 😍💫 Estamos deseando que arranque la @LigadeCampeones.#HalaMadrid | #RMUCL pic.twitter.com/vlGWtRwJya— Real Madrid C.F.⚽ (@realmadrid) September 16, 2019
⏳ ¡No podemos esperar más! 😍💫 Estamos deseando que arranque la @LigadeCampeones.#HalaMadrid | #RMUCL pic.twitter.com/vlGWtRwJya
Team news and PSG are sweating on the fitness of four players. Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe, Julian Draxler and Thilo Kehrer are all rated as doubtful for the game. Neymar is suspended.
Real Madrid travel without Luka Modric and Marco Asensio, with the former not expected back until early October and the latter next year. There are also doubts over fitness of Federico Valverde, Franchu, Isco and Sergio Ramos. However, Ramos cannot play regardless as he is suspended along with Nacho.
This has the makings of being one of the most entertaining matches of the week. If PSG can get a couple of their key forwards fit, they could cause a depleted Real Madrid defence plenty of problems. A home win and both teams to score plus over 2.5 goals seems a likely outcome.