French giants Paris Saint-Germain host 13-time UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid in their first Group A match of the campaign on Wednesday night – here is how the teams will line up!
Uefa Champions League
Teams: PSG vs Real Madrid
Date: 18 September 2019
Venue: Parc de Princes
Time: 21:00
The two teams last played one another in the 2017/18 Champions League season, when Real knocked the French side out at the round of 16 stage.
Unlike those two fixtures two seasons ago, PSG will be without their deadly front three of Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe, who miss out for various reasons.
While the Brazilian is suspended due to his rant about referees after his side were knocked out of the competition by Manchester United in the previous campaign in dramatic fashion, Cavani and Mbappe are unavailable through injury.
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Meanwhile, the away team will be without Luka Modric, Isco and Marco Asensio, who are all believed to be injured for the clash.
Los Blancos manager Zinedine Zidane might feel under pressure at the moment due to a string of inconsistent results, but PSG boss Thomas Tuchel could also be feeling the tension after he came in for some heavy criticism after being knocked out of the competition last season.
Real have won four of their past six clashes across all competitions against Les Parisiens, with the French side winning on just one of those occasions.
Of the Spanish giants' first four LaLiga games of the season, they have won two games and drawn twice, while PSG have won four matches and lost once in their first five Ligue 1 games of the new campaign.
Here is how the teams will line up:
PSG: Navas, Meunier, Thiago Silva, Kimpembe, Bernat, Verratti, Marquinhos, Gueye, Di María, Icardi, Sarabia.
Real: Courtois, Carvajal, Militao, Varane, Mendy, Kroos, Casemiro, James, Bale, Hazard, Benzema.
Which team are you backing? Let us know in the comments section below.
