Polish forward Robert Lewandowski (up) celebrates with his teammate
Bayern Munich’s Spanish defender Alvaro Odriozola after scoring his
team’s fourth goal during the UEFA Champions League, second-leg
round of 16, football match FC Bayern Munich v FC Chelsea in
Munich, southern Germany on August 8, 2020. Tobias SCHWARZ /
AFP
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
The Paris Saint-Germain of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe go
after a first-ever Champions League title behind closed doors in
Lisbon on Sunday but will have their work cut out against a Bayern
Munich side led by the prolific Robert Lewandowski.
It is a mouthwatering showdown between two of Europe’s super
clubs, with PSG eager to cap their rise in the last decade under
Qatari ownership and Bayern hoping to lift the trophy for the sixth
time.
Such an occasion deserves to be played in front of a full
stadium, but the cavernous, 65,000-seat Estadio da Luz will be
empty.
No fans are allowed in, as has been the case throughout this
unprecedented ‘Final Eight’ tournament in the midst of the
coronavirus pandemic.
“It is true that it will be odd to play behind closed doors. We
would have liked to have our supporters there but I know they are
supporting us where they are. But this is still the Champions
League,” said Mbappe on Saturday during a virtual press
conference.
The competition was suspended for five months before finally
resuming earlier in August, with two-legged ties done away within
the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
“You still feel all the tension. Everyone wants to win it,
especially with this unusual format. Everyone will remember this
for a long time because of the tragic events surrounding it,”
Mbappe added.
While the atmosphere in the ground will be surreal for the few
hundred allowed to attend, the match promises to be fascinating,
pitting together two teams whose domestic dominance is almost total
and who were both comfortable winners in the semi-finals.
– ‘Go down in history’ –
PSG sealed their place in their first Champions League final by
beating RB Leipzig 3-0.
They are the first French representative to get this far since
Monaco in 2004 and can become just the second team from Ligue 1 to
win European club football’s biggest prize, after Marseille in
1993.
“This is exactly why I came here. I always said that I wanted to
go down in my country’s history. (This) is another chance to do
that,” said Mbappe.
If PSG represent the nouveau riche, Bayern are one of the
continent’s traditional giants. This is their 11th final.
The last of their five victories came in 2013. Four starters
from that 2-1 final win over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley —
goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, David Alaba and Thomas
Mueller — could play here, although Boateng is a doubt with a
hamstring injury.
When, in 1974, Bayern won their first European Cup, a young PSG
outfit were only just winning promotion to France’s top flight.
Leaving aside their storied past, Bayern appear the most
formidable team in Europe just now.
Their 3-0 semi-final win over Lyon was their 20th consecutive
victory. They are unbeaten in 29 matches since December last year
under coach Hansi Flick.
They have already pocketed a German league and cup double, with
the Bundesliga title, their eighth in a row.
They have won all 10 matches in the Champions League this
season, scoring 42 goals, including a 7-2 win at Tottenham Hotspur
and the 8-2 quarter-final demolition of Barcelona.
– Bayern’s ‘small advantage’ –
Lewandowski has 55 goals this season. But he is more than ably
supported.
Bayern take the risk of playing with a dangerously high
defensive line. Yet it remains to be seen if they can afford to
take that risk against PSG’s attack of Neymar, Mbappe and Angel Di
Maria.
“We’ve always played with a high line and ultimately we’ve got
results doing that so we won’t change too much,” Flick
insisted.
The French champions, under German coach Thomas Tuchel, have
themselves lost once since November 1, last year, and they
overturned that 2-1 reverse in Dortmund in the last 16 by winning
the return leg.
“It is a small advantage for Bayern that they are used as a club
to playing these games. I accept that, but it is not a decisive
advantage,” said Tuchel.
Neymar is in fine form and Mbappe has recovered from an ankle
injury, while Tuchel was optimistic playmaker Marco Verratti would
start after a calf problem.
However, there remains a doubt over goalkeeper Keylor Navas,
three times a Champions League winner with Real Madrid, after he
missed the semi-final.
AFP