At Parc des Princes, teams take the first step towards winning the unprecedented title
The ball rolls at 4:00 pm, Brasília time, at Parc des Princes, in Paris, for one of the most awaited games of the season. Both teams seek the first Champions League title in history. PSG hit the post the last time, when they lost in the final to Bayern Munich. City, for the second time, play the semifinal of the tournament, and try to overcome the feat of 2016 when they fell for Real Madrid.
Packed by winning the English title last weekend – Pep Guardiola’s third in five years at the club – Manchester City have today’s game as the key to a good season. Soon, the English team should count on the return of John Stones, after serving suspension in the last three games in England, while Sterling may lose space to Bernardo Silva.
Manchester City shone in the group stage, with five wins and a draw that classified them as the leader of Group C, followed by Porto. In the round of 16, the English eliminated Borussia Mönchengladbach, with two wins by 2 to 0. In the quarterfinals, City faced Borussia Dortmund, again with two equal scores, this time by 2 to 1, needing to turn in the second game , away from home, without a goal from the competition’s top scorer, Haaland.
For PSG, coach Pochettino should count on Keylor Navas and Marco Verratti, recovered from injuries, while Marquinhos and Abdou Diallo are also expected. The French ended the group stage at the top of Group H, with four wins and two losses. In the next phase, he played for Barcelona, with a 4-1 victory in the first leg, in Spain. In the quarterfinals, he reissued the 2019/20 decision against Bayern Munich, but this time he won, qualifying by the criterion of goals scored away from home.
City and PSG met only once, in the 2015/16 season and through the quarterfinals. After a 2-2 draw in Paris, the English won 1-0 in Manchester, with a goal from Kevin De Bruyne.
By Gustavo Castilho
