The Champions League action returns after a busy first week. There were surprising results, a lot of drama, and the fans of this competition enjoyed a lot of quality football. One of the more surprising results, together with Young Boys defeating Manchester United, was courtesy of PSG. The Parisians played the underdogs of the group, Belgian Club Brugge, and even though they took a 1-0 lead, the game finished 1-1. On the other hand, their group A rivals Manchester City took care of business against RB Leipzig at home, winning 6-3.
Now, the Citizens have to travel to Paris to meet PSG in the biggest match of the group stages of the Champions League. Both of these teams are favorites for winning the whole thing and both were finalists in the past two years. PSG lost to Bayern Munich in 2020 and City could not defeat Chelsea in last season's edition of the competition. Both teams are hungry to get their first title in Europe and this should be a great match. Here are three predictions and things to look out for in this huge clash!
PSG v Man City predictions
Will Lionel Messi feature in the game..and what could he do?
PSG had one of the best transfer windows in the history of football. Not only have they signed such players like Sergio Ramos, Georginio Wijnaldum, Gianluigi Donnaruma, and Achraf Hakimi, they also added one of the greatest players in the world, Leo Messi. Messi had to leave Barcelona due to some financial issues and PSG was there to take him. With Messi, PSG has the strongest attack in football, with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe supporting the Argentinian.
However, from the start of the season, it does not seem like he is gelling perfectly with the rest of the squad. It is true that he had injury issues but he still has no goal contributions and has been fairly quiet for the French club. Some have also questioned how strong can he be in a system that nurtures more of a team game. It is widely known that Messi was the absolute leader and focus of the last few Barca squads and in Paris, he is only one part of the squad.
The good thing for PSG is that, even without Messi, they have maximum points in France, surviving a few close calls. In the Champions League, however, they already lost two points, just drawing to Club Brugge. Messi also missed the weekend game in Ligue 1, so it will be interesting to see will he even take the field on Tuesday. If he does and if he can get going, PSG will be unstoppable.
Will Manchester City keep scoring in bunches without a true striker?
Manchester City is coming into this game with great confidence. After a disappointing draw with Southampton, the Citizens beat rivals, Chelsea, away from home on Saturday. As it was mentioned in our prediction, this game could be tone-setting and City might be even more motivated to continue its winning ways against PSG.
The problem of the squad, however, persists and will persist until January, or next summer. The only true striker on the roster is Gabriel Jesus, who did score the winner against Chelsea, albeit with a deflection. There is other attacking quality, primarily Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish, and Riyad Mahrez, but they are both wingers. Manager Pep Guardiola also tried Ferran Torres in the sole-striker position, but that is not a permanent solution.
Yet, City put six past RB Leipzig in the last Champions League match and scored in bunches in the Premier League. While it does not feel sustainable, Guardiola clearly has a lot of faith in his attacking talent. So far, other than hiccups against Tottenham and Southampton, it has been good. However, PSG is a different beast and it will be interesting to see how Guardiola will set up.
Will the match come anywhere close to our expectations?
It is fair to say that the footballing world expects a lot from this game. At the moment that the draw set these two teams together, everyone circled the date in the calendar. Now, while it is possible that this match-up fulfills all our expectations, it is definitely questionable how realistic that is.
It has to be understood that PSG is still a fairly new squad. There were lots of additions and it is not certain how many of them will play on Tuesday in the Champions League. Ramos will be out indefinitely, while Messi might not feature as well. Donnaruma still cannot break the first eleven and Keylor Navas will most likely be between the sticks. Hakimi and Wijnaldum have been fairly regular and it is to be expected they will both be there.
On the other hand, City had a tough game on Saturday in the league and there is every possibility that Guardiola will rotate. The hectic schedule for the top clubs is slowly coming into effect and there is now an increased injury risk for the players the team needs for the rest of the season. When the fact that it is only the group stages of the Champions League, where both teams are expected to go through, is taken into consideration, then there is a higher possibility of this game being somewhat more silent than we all expect.
Regardless, all the neutral fans of football and the Champions League will be absolutely glued to their screens on Tuesday!
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