Paris vs Bayern Champions League round of 16 preview: Where to watch, kick-off time, line-ups
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
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When is it? How can you watch it? What are the starting line-ups? All you need to know about the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg between Paris and Bayern.
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Paris and Bayern meet in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg on Tuesday 14 February.
Paris vs Bayern at a glance
When: Tuesday 14 February (21:00 CET kick-off)
Where: Parc des Princes, Paris
What: Champions League round of 16 first leg (second leg: 8 March)
How to follow: Build-up and live coverage can be found here
Where to watch Paris vs Bayern on TV
Fans can find their local UEFA Champions League broadcast partner(s) here.
What do you need to know?
Paris and Bayern are finding each other hard to avoid of late; they have met in four of their last six campaigns, most notably when the Bavarians beat 'PSG' in the 2020 Champions League final. Julian Nagelsmann's side won all six of their group stage games, but Paris went through unbeaten too. It took away goals to separate these sides when they last met, in the 2020/21 quarter-finals, and another close encounter seems inevitable.
Starting line-ups
Paris: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Ramos, Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes; Zaire-Emery, Danilo, Verratti, Soler; Messi, Neymar
Misses next match if booked: Ramos, Verratti
Bayern: Sommer; Pavard, Upamecano, De Ligt; João Cancelo, Kimmich, Goretzka Coman; Sané, Musiala; Choupo-Moting
Misses next match if booked: Kimmich, Mazraoui
Squad changes
Paris
In: Ilyes Housni*, Timothee Pembele
Out: Ayman Kari, Keylor Navas, Pablo Sarabia
* List B
Bayern
In: Daley Blind, João Cancelo, Yann Sommer
Out: Benjamin Ballis, Justin Janitzek, Gabriel Marušić, Jakob Thomas Mayer, Marcel Sabitzer
Form guide
Paris
Form (all competitions, most recent first): LLWWDW
Where they stand: 1st in Ligue 1
Bayern
Form (all competitions, most recent first): WWWDDD
Where they stand: 1st in Bundesliga, German Cup quarter-finals
Expert prediction
Jordan Maciel, match reporter
Paris coach Christophe Galtier has admitted he is "worried" ahead of this game. The French champions have had a turbulent start to 2023 and are licking their wounds from two consecutive domestic defeats. On a positive note, they will be boosted by the returns of Lionel Messi and Marco Verratti, while Kylian Mbappé is also expected to be back in the squad. Can the star-studded Parisians rise to the occasion?
Bayern, too, find themselves in a genuine title race domestically; a reality that has as much to do with their own patchy form as it is the strength of the chasing pack. Though they may well have the strength to see off the likes of Union Berlin and Dortmund on current form come May, they must raise their game in order to go all the way on the European stage. That starts on Tuesday in Paris.
What the coaches say
Christophe Galtier, Paris coach: "Bayern are a good side, a team that have won everything. Paris have been using two systems and I think we might start using a third in matches against teams of a certain level. I will ask the coaching staff to work on a new option. We need to find the most balanced model that will allow us to get the ball back as quickly as possible."
Julian Nagelsmann, Bayern coach: "Paris are difficult opponents: we didn't get any reward for our perfect group stage campaign. Just like us, they have a lot of world-class players, but this is the Champions League, so it's to be expected that there are no easy opponents in the round of 16."
Where is the 2023 Champions League final?
Istanbul's Atatürk Olympic Stadium will host the final on Saturday 10 June 2023.
The winners gain a place in the 2023/24 Champions League group stage, if they have not qualified via their domestic competition.