It is a repeat of last year’s Champions League final. FC Bayern host Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the last eight in Europe’s premier club competition on Wednesday night. Why goals are guaranteed in the clash of the top performers and which impressive runs Bayern can extend can be found in the facts and figures on the game.
1. Record is good away from Paris
Bayern trail in the nine games to date against Paris Saint-Germain with four wins and five defeats. PSG have mainly secured that lead at the Parc des Princes. Bayern have won the last three home games against the team from the French capital. On top of that, there was the 1-0 victory at a neutral venue in the final in Lisbon last August.
A moment never to be forgotten: Kingsley Coman wins the last clash with PSG with a header (1-0).
2. Clash of the top performers
Bayern and PSG have led the way in attacking football in the Champions League in recent years. Since the start of the 2016/17 season, the Reds have scored an average of 2.8 goals per Champions League game and that is the best return of all the teams in the competition. Paris Saint-Germain are just behind in second place with an average of 2.5 goals per game. Moreover, PSG have only failed to score once in the last 43 Champions League games – in the 1-0 defeat against Bayern in Lisbon.
3. Bayern unbeatable at the moment
Bayern have gone 19 games unbeaten in the Champions League (18 wins, one draw) and they could become only the second team in the history of Europe’s elite club competition to go 20 games without defeat. That was previously achieved by Manchester United (25 between 2007 and 2009).
Bayern secured victory number 18 in the last 19 games against Lazio in the middle of March – Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting was amongst the goalscorers.
4. Plenty of finals experience on the pitch
Familiar faces: Of the 30 players used in last years Champions League final in Lisbon, 25 are still under contract with their teams. In addition, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting joined FC Bayern from Paris Saint-Germain at the start of the season.
5. Good omen: PSG weakness against defending champions
PSG face the reigning champions for the third time in the knockout rounds of the Champions League. In the previous two ties, the French team lost both the home and away legs: in 1994/95 in the semi-final against AC Milan with a 1-0 defeat at home and a 2-0 loss away, and in the Round of 16 against Real Madrid in 2017/18 with a 3-1 defeat away and a 2-1 reverse at their home ground.
Bayern go into the match against PSG with lots of confidence following the win in the top game against RB Leipzig:
