Bayern vs PSG: Champions League History & Preview

It’s not a finale. Not even a knockout game. And yet everyone in Europe is waiting for this preliminary round game of the Champions League. Also Vincent Kompany. “Oh yes, I’m happy,” announced the FC Bayern coach before the giants’ meeting with defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Prinzenpark.

“If these two teams don’t go full throttle, then we don’t need to go to the stadium anymore,” remarked the Belgian humorously. And Kompany even gave the showdown between the first in the table and the second on Tuesday (9 p.m./Prime Video) a headline: “Rock ‘n’ Roll in Paris!”

It’s sure to be a hot dance. The expectations of the giants’ meeting with some of the world’s best footballers such as Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé or the strongest Harry Kane of all time are as high as the Eiffel Tower in Paris. “It will be a blast,” said national player Serge Gnabry.

“The most difficult task in football”

The big question is: How good are the nationally powerful Bavarians really? Who else but the defending champions, “the best team last season,” as Kompany emphasized, should be able to answer that.

“We are going there to win. But we know that this is the most difficult task there is in football at the moment,” said Kompany about Spaniard Luis Enrique’s team, which triumphantly won the premier class with a 5-0 win against Bayern conquerors Inter Milan in Munich last May.

Kompany-Bayern, on the other hand, have won everything this season. 15 games, 15 wins. And when was the last time they lost? And against whom? Sure: against Paris. Exactly four months ago, PSG won 2-0 in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup in the USA after goals from young star Desiré Doué, who was missing this time due to injury, and from star striker Dembélé, who is not in top shape. The former Dortmund player repeatedly complains about pain in his thigh.

Das Musiala-Drama in Atlanta

July 5th in Atlanta was a day that still has an impact on Bayern today. “That was a knockout game that we lost unnecessarily – and under dramatic circumstances,” recalled Max Eberl. By the drama, the sports director meant the serious injury to national player Jamal Musiala.

Musiala broke his fibula when Italy’s goalkeeper hero Gianluigi Donnarumma, who now plays for Manchester City, made a violent effort. The scene was shocking to every observer. And the 22-year-old is still missing from the reunion. There won’t be a Musiala comeback until December.

Previous history provides additional emotional explosiveness

The backstory provides additional emotional explosiveness. The new edition should primarily be a pointer to the present and future. “Every game shows where you currently stand,” said Eberl, who admittedly qualified: “What comes out won’t be anything final because it’s not a final. But it’s a nice opportunity to compete with the best team in Europe.”

Eberl recognizes in his Bayern in the fall of 2025 everything that also characterizes the star ensemble from PSG around the famous midfield pacer Vitinha. “We are now bringing the activity, how they play football, onto the pitch. Two top teams meet there,” said Eberl.

And the favorite role? “They say that PSG has the home advantage, which is perhaps the one percent that is in Paris. But we are still unbeaten away from home,” replied Eberl.

Neuer: We can annoy them

Captain Manuel Neuer, who was already outstanding in goal when Bayern beat Paris 1-0 in the premier class final in Lisbon in 2020, also believes in a completely open “Fifty, fifty” game. “Paris are a strong team. I think we can still upset them. We know how we have done this season so far,” said the 39-year-old.

After his amazing rotation maneuver in the 3-0 win in the Bundesliga top game against Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern coach Kompany will call up his A team again, i.e. with the rested first attack around striker Kane.

PSG, who won 7-2 in Leverkusen just two weeks ago, struggled to a meager 1-0 win against OGC Nice in their dress rehearsal in League 1 at the weekend. But coach Enrique quickly checked it off and certainly didn’t unsettle him. Rather, the Spaniard said: “We were already focused on Bayern Munich in our heads. Because it’s one of the best games you can play – against one of the best teams in Europe.”

It’s arranged in the Prinzenpark. And perhaps it will again come down to little things, individual moments. “Who is better?” Gnabry also asked this question. His answer: “Both teams have a lot of respect for each other. And the last meetings have always been in the sense that the team that scored the first goal won.”