Overview
Paris Saint-Germain faced many difficulties in their journey to defend the Ligue 1 crown, especially with late-season stagnations that made them no longer maintain the invincible image of the 2024-2025 season. However, in the UEFA Champions League arena, Luis Enrique's team showed the face of a true championship contender.
Les Parisiens are in the most impressive European form this season, with four consecutive victories against Chelsea and Liverpool, scoring 12 goals to advance to the Champions League semi-finals for the third consecutive year.
In the quarter-finals, PSG won convincingly against Liverpool, when Ousmane Dembele's double extinguished all the efforts of the English representative to rise up.
The Paris capital team is now aiming for another historical milestone: to become the first French club to reach 100 wins in the Champions League. Notably, their first victory in this tournament (in modern format) came against Bayern Munich in the 1994-1995 season.
However, PSG once caused a surprise when losing to Lyon 1-2 after a victory at Anfield, but they quickly returned with two consecutive 3-0 victories against Nantes and Angers. With a 6-point gap when the season is still 4 rounds, PSG has almost touched the Ligue 1 championship, only needing two more victories to officially be crowned.
In the opposite direction, Bayern Munich entered the match with the mentality of a Bundesliga champion, after being crowned early on April 19. However, the rather calm celebration shows that this is familiar to the "Bayern", contrary to the pressure and expectations that have not been met in the Champions League.
Since the 2020 championship, Bayern has consistently stopped in important knockout rounds, with four eliminations in the quarterfinals and one in the semi-finals. They have even lost all 5 semi-final matches in the last two legs since the 2012-2013 season (except for the 2019-2020 season playing in one leg).
However, Vincent Kompany's army is still a formidable force. They have won 7 recent Champions League matches, including victories against Real Madrid, and extended their winning streak to 9 in all competitions after a 4-3 comeback against Mainz.
Notably, Bayern once defeated PSG 2-1 right at Parc des Princes in the group stage in November - their fifth victory in the last six encounters. This makes this rematch even more tense, as PSG is eager to avenge the defeat, especially the painful memory in the 2020 final.
Personnel situation
PSG's victory over Liverpool at Anfield seemed to cost them when Desire Doue and Nuno Mendes both were injured. However, both returned in the match against Angers and are likely ready for the next match.
PSG may also receive more good news when Vitinha has returned to training after a heel injury. Besides, Fabian Ruiz has also reappeared after two months of injury to the knee and is aiming to start from the beginning after playing all 45 minutes without problems.
On the opposite side, Bayern Munich suffered a significant loss on the coaching bench when Vincent Kompany was suspended for receiving enough yellow cards after the victory over Real Madrid.
In terms of strength, Bayern is still missing Serge Gnabry, Tom Bischof, Lennart Karl and Raphael Guerreiro due to injury, but reserve goalkeeper Sven Ulreich has recovered.
Notably, Joshua Kimmich and Dayot Upamecano will return after being rested in the match against Mainz. Meanwhile, Harry Kane is aiming for the goal in his sixth consecutive Champions League match.
Expected lineup:
PSG: Safonov, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes, Ruiz, Vitinha, Neves, Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia.
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Laimer, Pavlovic, Kimmich, Olise, Musiala, Diaz, Kane.
The match between PSG and Bayern Munich takes place at 2:00 a.m. on April 29 (Vietnam time).
