PSG vs Borussia Dortmund (Agg: 1-2)
Parc des Princes, Paris
Wednesday, 11-03-2020 @11pm
Ref: Anthony Taylor (Eng)
PSG will be hoping to finally put their round of 16 woes to bed when they face Dortmund at the Parc da Princes on Wednesday morning.
They have been eliminated at the first knock-out round of the champions league in four last five seasons.
The Parisians lost the first leg 2-1 in Germany but scored a precious away goal through Neymar to put them in a confident situation come the second leg.
PSG will be without the services of full-back Thomas Meunier and midfield mainstay Marco Verratti, both of whom are suspended for accumulation of cards. There are doubts over the availability of Kylian Mbappe after he missed training on Monday due to illness, while Colin Dagba’s involvement is also uncertain. Thiago Silva has recovered from his injury and should be available.
Having set his team up with a three-man defence in the first leg, PSG boss Thomas Tuchel is likely to revert to the 4-4-2 system that he has used most regularly this term.
In goal, the hosts will rely on the brilliance of Keylor Navas to keep them in contention. The four-man backline should see Thilo Kehrer starting at right-back while Laywin Kurzawa could get the nod on the left side ahead of Juan Bernat. Presnel Kimpembe is expected to pair up with the fit-again Thiago Silva at the heart of the PSG defence.
The two-man central midfield unit is likely to comprise of Idrissa Gueye and Marquinhos, who will be tasked with disrupting Dortmund’s rhythm in the centre of the park. The South American duo of Angel Di Maria and Neymar, who scored in the first leg, will provide the creative threat from the flanks and look to make the most of a vulnerable Dortmund defence.
Given the importance of the fixture, Mbappe is expected to make himself available for the contest and should start in the two-pronged strikeforce alongside Edinson Cavani, who is likely to get the nod over Mauro Icardi owing to his work-rate off the ball.
Dortmund do not have a whole lot of injury concerns heading into the crunch tie in Paris. However, Dortmund will be without captain Marco Reus and midfielder Thomas Delaney for the game, although they have been doing well without the duo for some time now.
Favre is unlikely to switch formation or make any big changes to the side that started in the weekend victory against Gladbach. Roman Burki will start in goal for the visitors and will likely be a busy man against a dangerous PSG attack on Wednesday.
The three-man backline ought to comprise of Lukasz Piszczek, Mats Hummels and Dan-Axel Zagadou, who has become the preferred choice ahead of Manuel Akanji. While the Dortmund defence has looked suspect for most of the campaign, they have been able to steady things of late and will be hoping to keep the PSG frontline at bay.
Achraf Hakimi and Raphael Guerreiro will be the two wing-backs for Dortmund and will look to cause problems to the hosts with their overlapping runs on the flanks. The two-man midfield unit of Emre Can and Axel Witsel has been performing very well and should remain intact, meaning Julian Brandt misses out again.
Jadon Sancho ought to return to the lineup after being benched for the weekend clash. The Englishman will line up on the right flank while the opposite wing is likely to be occupied by Thorgan Hazard. Spearheading the Dortmund attack will be January signing Erling Haaland.
PSG have never beaten Borussia Dortmund in European competition, drawing twice and losing once. Their only previous meeting at Parc des Princes was in November 2010, a goalless draw in the Europa League. Borussia Dortmund have won three and lost three of their six away Champions League matches against French sides, both winning and losing against each of Auxerre, Marseille and Monaco. PSG have never progressed to the next stage of the Champions League after losing the first leg of a knockout match, going out against Milan in 1994-95, Barcelona in 2014-15 and Real Madrid in 2017-18. Borussia Dortmund have always progressed to the next stage of the Champions League after winning the first leg of a knockout match, doing so on all four previous occasions. The only team with a better 100% progression rate after winning the first leg is Juventus (11/11). PSG have lost five of their last six Champions League knockout matches (W1), losing each of their last two at the Parc des Princes against Real Madrid in March 2018 and Manchester United in March 2019.
The other game on Wednesday
-Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid @11pm
