PSG is also among the clubs with the strongest form
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It’s not a finale. Not even a knockout game. And yet everyone in Europe is waiting for this preliminary round game of the Champions League. Also Vincent Kompany. “Oh yes, I’m happy,” announced the FC Bayern coach before the giants’ meeting with defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Prinzenpark. “If these two teams don’t go full throttle, then we don’t need to go to the stadium anymore,” remarked the Belgian humorously. And Kompany even gave the showdown between the first in the table and the second on Tuesday (9 p.m./Prime Video) a headline: “Rock ‘n’ Roll in Paris!”
It’s sure to be a hot dance. The expectations of the giants’ meeting with some of the world’s best footballers such as Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé or perhaps the strongest Harry Kane of all time are huge. “It will be a cracker,” said national player Serge Gnabry about the duel between two of the strongest teams in Europe. The big question is: How good are the nationally powerful Bavarians really? Who else but the defending champions, “the best team last season,” as Kompany emphasized, should be able to answer that.
“We’re going there to win. But we know that it’s the most difficult task there is in football at the moment,” said Kompany about Spaniard Luis Enrique’s team, which triumphantly won the premier class with a 5-0 win against Bayern’s conquerors Inter Milan in Munich last May. Kompany-Bayern, on the other hand, have won everything this season: 15 games, 15 wins. Not a single defeat, but an immaculate record. No other team from the top 5 leagues in Europe comes close.
When was the last time you lost? And against whom? Sure: against Paris. Exactly four months ago, PSG won 2-0 in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup in the USA after goals from young star Désiré Doué, who was missing this time due to injury, and from star striker Dembélé, who is not in top shape. The former Dortmund player repeatedly complains about pain in his thigh, but according to Luis Enrique he should be fit for the clash with Bayern.
July 5th in Atlanta was a day that still has an impact on Bayern today. “That was a knockout game that we lost unnecessarily – and under dramatic circumstances,” recalled Max Eberl. By the drama, the sports director meant the serious injury to national player Jamal Musiala. Musiala broke his fibula when Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who now plays for Manchester City, made a violent effort. The scene was shocking to every observer. And the 22-year-old is still missing from the reunion. There won’t be a Musiala comeback until December.
PSG against FC Bayern: previous history creates additional explosiveness
The backstory provides additional emotional explosiveness. The new edition should primarily be a pointer to the present and future. “Every game shows where you currently stand,” said Eberl, who admittedly qualified: “What comes out won’t be anything final because it’s not a final. But it’s a nice opportunity to compete with the best team in Europe.”
Eberl recognizes in his Bayern in the fall of 2025 everything that also characterizes the star ensemble from PSG around the famous midfielder Vitinha. “We’re now bringing the activity of how they play football onto the pitch. Two top teams meet there,” said Eberl. And the favorite role? “They say PSG has the home advantage, which is perhaps the one percent that is in Paris. But we are still unbeaten away from home,” replied Eberl.
Captain Manuel Neuer, who was already outstanding in goal when Bayern beat Paris 1-0 in the premier class final in Lisbon in 2020, also believes in a completely open “Fifty, fifty” game. “Paris are a strong team. I think we can still upset them. We know how we have done so far this season,” explained the 39-year-old. After his amazing rotation maneuver in the 3-0 win in the top game of the Bundesliga against Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern coach Kompany will call up his A team again, i.e. with the rested first striker around striker Kane.
PSG coach Luis Enrique has great respect for FC Bayern
PSG, who won 7-2 in Leverkusen just two weeks ago, struggled to a meager 1-0 win against OGC Nice in the Ligue 1 dress rehearsal at the weekend. But coach Luis Enrique quickly checked it off and certainly didn’t unsettle it. Rather, the Spaniard said: “We were already focused on Bayern Munich in our heads. Because it’s one of the best games you can play – against one of the best teams in Europe.” The coach approaches the task with great respect. “We know how difficult it is to win three or four games in a row. But if it’s 15, it’s just incredible. At the moment it’s clear that they’re a very strong team, as they always are. We know how difficult it will be. But we’re ready and motivated to win.”
It’s arranged in the Prinzenpark. And perhaps it will again come down to little things, individual moments. “Who is better?” Gnabry also asked this question. His answer: “Both teams have a lot of respect for each other. And the last meetings have always been in the sense that the team that scored the first goal won.”