PSG are at a disadvantage against Bayern. Will individual quality overcome team performance?

The most anticipated Champions League semi-final is here, with PSG taking on Bayern Munich tonight. Two different styles will clash in the duel between the two giants, while the Parisians rely on the individual quality of their attacking stars, the Munich side is pushing the team concept. Who will succeed?

Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappé. That’s a formidable force on paper, and when PSG put it together, many fans expected the Parisians to steamroll all opponents with the difference of class.

It’s just that football isn’t played on paper, and last season it was true that PSG were much weaker when all three stars were on the pitch than when at least one was missing. In the end, it turned into a fiasco in the eighth round against Real Madrid.

Even though Messi, Mbappé or Neymar are fantastic footballers who do amazing things when they’re fit, sometimes it’s not enough. In fact, all three of them like to play only in attack, the defensive work is practically not their concern. Thus, in PSG matches you can often see 7 defending players in blue jerseys and three attackers walking in the middle of the pitch waiting for teammates to win the ball.

You can have one player on your team with lighter defensive duties if it backfires on offense. But if you have three right away, it can’t work long term.

Bayern, on the other hand, is a completely different style. The Munich side embodies typical German discipline, hard work, diligence and responsibility. No player in the team stands out, if you were to name one star who stands out above the rest, you would have to think hard.

The team is very reasonably composed, with great quality and competition in all positions. No one player has star-like mannerisms, they all work for each other. In the vast majority of cases, the team concept has the upper hand, but sometimes the individual qualities are so brilliant that they get the match done.

Discomfort at PSG

It’s just that they have to be totally fit and in shape to do it. And you certainly can’t say that about PSG’s stars. The Parisians first crashed out of the Coupe de France with Marseille, a few days later they lost 1: 3 to Monaco.

This angered Neymar, who fell out with sporting director Luis Campos and complained about the poor performance of his teammates. But the Brazilian is also half the player he was in the autumn after a disappointing World Cup in Qatar and his performances are definitely not good.

Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé have been battling injuries again and so will go into the game with a slight question mark as to whether they are 100 per cent ready.

In addition, several fans went to the training center on Sunday to boo the arriving PSG players, who were also heard to hurl a few expletives. The atmosphere in the cabin and the club in general is pretty tense right now and a possible defeat to Bayern would raise hell. On the other hand, a win could calm things down a lot.

Source: UEFA