The inevitable happened. Paris Saint-Germain will face Bayern Munich, one of the Champions League favorites this season, at the end of the winter, as the draw for the knockout stages of the competition revealed. is held on Monday 7 November in Nyon (Switzerland). The capital club has suffered from its position in pot 2 for this draw and will be able to bite its fingers for having lost the place of leader of its group on the last day of the group stage, last Wednesday, in favor of of Benfica Lisbon.
The probabilities predicted that PSG had the best chance of falling on Bayern Munich (19.46%), while the Bavarian club feared to cross Liverpool (37.12%). Fate, which has martyred Paris for several seasons in the Champions League, is still teasing with the capital club, which therefore finds a club it has faced several times in recent seasons.
PSG has a very bad memory of it. That of a final lost behind closed doors at the Luz de Benfica stadium (0-1), in the summer of 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. But more recently, Paris took revenge against Bayern, eliminating them the following season in the quarter-finals (3-2, 0-1) and notably winning the first leg in Munich, thanks to a great Kylian Mbappe.
This season, the story will be very different. First because PSG will play at home in the first leg. A disadvantage that the Parisians already measure well: the memory of the elimination against Real Madrid (1-0, 1-3) away on the return, last year, in the round of 16, is in everyone’s mind . But also and because between Monday’s draw and the round of 16 at the end of winter (first legs on February 14-15 and 21-22, return matches on March 7-8 and 15-16 ), will be held the World Cup (November 20-December 18).
The state of form of players and teams at the end of winter is therefore still an enigma and anything could happen. But at this stage of the season, the conclusion is as follows: Bayern Munich is one of the favorites for the final victory in the Champions League. Bundesliga leader, the Bavarian club crushed its pool, with six wins in six games, in a group where Inter Milan and FC Barcelona were still.
PSG, for its part, will have time to work while the club has again shown some weaknesses at the start of the season. And he will have to rely above all on his individualities (Neymar, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé) to hope to qualify. “They have incredible players. It’s hard to say who will be the favourites. It will be 50-50,” announced Hasan Salihamidzic, sporting director of Bayern Munich. “It’s not right away, so it’s hard to say what state of mind the players will be in,” for his part assured Oliver Kahn, president of the Bavarian club.
Luis Campos, PSG sports adviser, reacted by stating that “many players from Paris played in the final [de 2020] and that they have the opportunity to take their revenge. And to show that we not only have individual quality, but also that of a great team. At the end of winter, Paris will be keen to silence fate, to get closer to the first Champions League in its history.