PSG V Bayern Munich: A historic final?
Parisians vs Bavarians!
Things are hotting up in Lisbon this Sunday as the months of drama, last minute pushes, thrilling kicks and heart stopping moments conclude with the Champions League Final.
The mighty French Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-German go up against the powerhouse from the east, Bayern Munich.
The Champions League are familiar stomping grounds for the clubs, but the baited-breath and surprise lie with PSG. While PSG has been a regular in the quarter finals, this is their first time they’ve progressed to the semi-finals or even the finals for that matter.
The Parisians managed to pull off a victory against tough opposition from the Red Bulls of RB Leipzig, scoring 3 – 0 to advance to Sunday’s final.
Will this be PSG’s year to make Championship history that they’ve been craving? Will they raise the Champions trophy in the 65th season of the contest or will the Bavarians storm through their defences and snatch a sixth title?
Facing PSG is the seemingly unstoppable force of Bayern Munich, a team that has collected the glory five times already; 1973 – 1974 (against Atletico Madrid), 1974 – 1975 (Leeds United), 1975 – 1976 (against Saint Etienne), 2000 – 2001 (Valencia) and 2012- 2013 (Borussia Dortmund).
Bayern’s Semi-Final game saw them knock out Lyon with a 3 – 0 win, with top scorer Robert Lewandowski netting the last goal in the 88th minute.
Fast match facts
This will be the 9th time that PSG and Bayern Munich have played each other. The previous 8 meetings have been at the group stage games in the UEFA Champions League. PSG managed to win 5 of those 8 matches.
They may still need to be wary especially when Bayern annihilated Barcelona 8 – 2 in their quarter final game last week.
Paris Saint-German
As we said before, this is PSG’s first time at in the final of the Champions League, making them the 41st European club to make it to the main event.
Interestingly, the last half dozen teams that competed for their first time in the finals, all lost. Only new arrival Borussia Dortmund beat Juventus for the title in 1997.
The Champions League Final marks the third major UEFA final that the Parisians have reached. The previous were its successive entries to the final of the 1995/96 and 1996/97 Cup Winner’s Cup. They beat the Austrian side SK Rapid Wien 1 – 0 in the first final and lost 1 – 0 to Barcelona in the second.
Bayern Munich
This will be the 11th time the German side has reached a European Cup/Championship Final. They won on 5 of those occasions. That places them in 4th place behind Liverpool (6), AC Milan (7) and Real Madrid (16).
Bayern holds the title for scoring the most goals this season. They’re unbeaten in 10 games and have scored 42 goals in the 2020 League. PSG has scored 25 goals in the last 10 games, with 8 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw.
Stats for boffins
So this will be the last official game from the 119 matches played and yet to be played in the 2019/20 Champions League contest. There have been 385 goals scored, averaging at 3.26 goals scored per match.
A goal was scored roughly every 28 minutes of a match, with the highest frequency of goals being scored in the 76th to 90th minute.
Tactical game
According to Chris Burke, UEFA’s PSG reporter, the Parisians have had to use different strategies to cope with player absences in order to dispatch their previous opponents. Burke considers that manager Thomas Tuchel may well be looking to keep the 4-3-3 strategy they played against Leipzig.
The hopes are that the Brazilian No10 Neymar, will continue to create plays for the team in Sunday’s final.
On the other side of the pitch, Bayern reporter Jordan Maciel, considers that Bayern will continue their high intensity – high momentum play, to maintain possession and press the wings to their advantage. While full-backs; Joshua Kimmich and Alphonso Davies are integral to flanks, the goal scoring chances will come from the stellar Polish international Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski currently has 15 goals to his name in this tournament.
What else has been happening?
While you’re here, why not check out some more blogs we’ve written on this year’s high profile football events:
Sevilla V Inter Milan: Game on!
Are you ready for the FA Cup Final?
English Premier League hits the restart button
Where will you be this Sunday?
Grab your virtual seat for the action and join us for the 65th Champions League Final this weekend.
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