Football: PSG clash the true test for Bayern’s Champions League recruits

BERLIN – Bayern Munich host Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday, with the stage set for star turns from their 2022-23 additions Sadio Mane and Matthijs de Ligt.

With Bayern having won 10 German Bundesliga titles in succession, the two big-name summer recruits were bought mainly with European nights in mind.

The Bavarians return to the Allianz Arena with a 1-0 advantage, thanks to former PSG forward Kingsley Coman’s goal at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their last-16 clash.

Julian Nagelsmann’s men will need only to avoid defeat to ensure a place in the quarter-finals.

But, just as it is for PSG boss Christophe Galtier, the Bayern coach is aware that elimination will leave a burn that domestic results will not be able to cleanse.

Nagelsmann said as much after his side’s tight win at Stuttgart in the Bundesliga last Saturday.

He added that he hopes it is not the result but “the manner and style of our game (against PSG) is how the season will be seen”.

Early European exits are not to be tolerated in Munich.

Only once have Bayern been knocked out before reaching the quarter-finals in the past 10 years, during which they have lifted the trophy twice.

After their 2-1 win at Stuttgart, Nagelsmann locked the dressing room door to remind his side of the task against PSG.

“I told them that on Wednesday we have a very important game and that we need to bring our intensity,” he said.

“They’re a difficult team to beat and are one of the best teams in Europe.”

Key to that intensity and focus will be Mane, who enjoys the European stage and scored the go-ahead goal for Liverpool at the Allianz Arena to eliminate Bayern in the last 16 in 2018-19.

Mane made the move from Liverpool to Munich in the summer of 2022, having appeared in three of the past five Champions League finals, winning one and scoring in another.

The forward is line for his first start in four months on Wednesday, as he returns from a leg injury which ruled him out of Senegal’s World Cup campaign.

Mane has made two appearances from the bench in the league since recovering from the injury and, despite looking sharp, has yet to recapture his best form.

“It’s normal that he needs a bit more rhythm,” added Nagelsmann.

“We’ll wait and see on Wednesday whether he will start.”

Behind Mane in the centre of defence is de Ligt, the man tasked with shutting down PSG’s strike duo of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.

Since moving from Juventus, de Ligt took a little longer than Mane to establish himself in Munich, initially coming off the bench.

France star Lucas Hernandez’s knee injury in Qatar in November, however, gave de Ligt an opportunity which he grabbed with both hands.

De Ligt played perhaps his best game for Bayern against Stuttgart, clearing the ball off the line before scoring a goal at the other end of the pitch in a furious two-minute period.

Even with news emerging that Neymar will miss the tie – the Brazil international will undergo surgery to repair ankle ligaments – the Dutch defender said that Bayern will have their hands full with PSG’s “dangerous” duo of Mbappe and Messi.

“They are two very good strikers. It will be very difficult,” de Ligt said.

“We have to play a top game and be extra focused.”

Meanwhile, Neymar promised to “come back stronger” after surgery, as PSG confirmed that it would take “three to four months before he can return to training with the team”.

That would appear to end any prospect of the 31-year-old forward playing again this season.

PSG are also without Presnel Kimpembe, with the France centre-back set to miss the rest of the season due to an Achilles injury. AFP