Who: Bayern Munich vs Paris Saint-Germain
What: Champions League semifinal, second leg
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
When: Wednesday at 9pm (19:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 16:00 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.
PSG head to Munich for the second leg of their semifinal against Bayern on Wednesday, defending a 5-4 lead from an incredible first meeting that was one of the greatest matches in the competition’s history.
Some of the game’s leading attackers were given free rein to go for the jugular as the match became the highest-scoring Champions League semifinal leg of all time, and both managers have promised to double down on their approach in the second leg.
The rewards for a semifinal victory are a place in the final on May 30 at the Puskas Arena in Budapest against either Arsenal or Atletico Madrid.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele scored twice each as Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 5-4 in an extraordinary encounter.
The first half alone last Tuesday night was wild, with Harry Kane giving Bayern the lead from a penalty, only for Kvaratskhelia to equalise before Joao Neves headed the hosts in front at an enthralled Parc des Princes.
Michael Olise made it 2-2, but a Dembele penalty in first-half stoppage time had the reigning champions back ahead at the interval.
Kvaratskhelia and Dembele then both scored again to put PSG seemingly out of sight, only for Dayot Upamecano to pull one back before Luis Diaz made it 5-4.
Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany has pledged to stick with his high-octane, high-risk approach as the German champions and six-time European Cup winners look to blast their way to the final.
“I also would be glad to keep a clean sheet, but what we absolutely cannot do is lose what made us strong,” Kompany said.
He added, “PSG were never going to change the style that won them the Champions League last year.
“We come into the match as the team that has won the most games and scored the most goals in Europe.
“Is anyone going to take a backward step? Nobody will accept that.”
Already Bundesliga champions, Bayern have scored 116 goals in 32 games – a record in the league and among the best anywhere in Europe.
Their attacking approach does leave them vulnerable, however. The Bavarians have conceded 16 goals in their past six games, with just one clean sheet.
After Bayern came from 2-0 and 3-2 down to draw 3-3 with Heidenheim on Saturday, with an Olise goal in the 10th minute of stoppage time, Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich also promised more of the same against PSG.
“We’re not going to change our style of play in three days and just sit back and defend,” Kimmich said.
“We have to win, regardless of whether it’s another 5-4, a 3-2, or a 1-0 victory.”
If PSG can see off a brilliant Bayern team, Luis Enrique will be a step closer to becoming just the fifth coach to win three European Cups or Champions Leagues, after Carlo Ancelotti, Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane and Pep Guardiola.
“It was the best game I have been fortunate enough to be involved in as a coach,” Luis Enrique said after last week’s first leg.
He nevertheless believes his side will need to score another three goals at the Allianz Arena to see off the German champions.
Enrique and his side need not look too far back for inspiration – their last visit to Munich ended in PSG hammering Inter Milan 5-0 in last season’s final as they won the Champions League for the first time in their history.
His side also stand on the verge of another Ligue 1 title as they lead second-placed Lens by six points with three games left to play – although their financial advantage over the rest of France’s clubs makes that far less remarkable.
“Last season, we achieved the objective that everyone around us had been dreaming of,” said the Spaniard on the eve of this campaign.
“But we want to continue making history, and that now means winning two Champions Leagues in a row.”
Dembele struck twice to confirm PSG’s place in the last four with a 2-0 victory over Liverpool, sealing a 4-0 aggregate win at a rain-soaked Anfield.
Diaz and Olise scored late goals to give the hosts a dramatic 4-3 win over Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals and send them into the last four on a 6-4 aggregate score after a thrilling tie.
The two clubs have played each other 17 times and have never drawn – Bayern won nine of those games, while PSG won eight.
Last five encounters:
Bayern won European Cup/Champions League titles in 1974, 1975, 1976, 2001, 2013, and 2020.
The Bavarians beat PSG 1-0 in the 2020 final through a 59th-minute goal scored by former PSG player Kingsley Coman.
PSG won their only Champions League title last season.
Champions League semifinals are often more memorable than the title matches.
One year ago, an exciting Inter Milan-Barcelona contest was as widely praised as the PSG-Bayern opener. A 3-3 first leg in Barcelona was just an appetiser for Inter’s rollercoaster 4-3 win in extra time at San Siro.
In 2022, Real Madrid somehow rallied in stoppage time of the second leg to deny Manchester City victory. Madrid won 3-1 in extra time. The wild first leg went 4-3 to City in Manchester.
A vintage knockout phase in 2019 was capped by astonishing comebacks on back-to-back nights in the semifinal second legs by Liverpool against Barcelona and Tottenham at Ajax.
There have been no new reported injury issues for the second leg, with Serge Gnabry and Raphael Guerreiro both previously ruled out through thigh and hamstring injuries, respectively.
Teenage star Lennart Karl may have recovered enough from a torn thigh muscle to feature at some point.
Predicted starting XI:
Neuer (goalkeeper); Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Davies; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Musiala, Diaz; Kane
In a major blow to the Parisians, key right-back Achraf Hakimi suffered a hamstring injury in the first leg, which is set to keep him out of action for several weeks. Warren Zaire-Emery is set to fill in for the Moroccan.
PSG will also be without second-choice goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier due to a hand injury.
But aside from these two absentees, Luis Enrique appears to have a full squad to choose from.
Predicted starting XI:
Safonov (goalkeeping); Zaire-Emery, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Ruiz, Vitinha, Neves; Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia
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