Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are two of the best
teams in Europe over the past few seasons, making their matchup in the
group stage an instant must-watch affair. But for all the quality on the
pitch, it’s a spat of drama off it that could wind up overshadowing the
proceedings on Wednesday.
There’s been significant dressing room drama for Paris
Saint-Germain of late, with a much publicized rift between newcomer
Neymar and Edinson Cavani, who has been an anchor in the team for
several years now. The two are apparently not coexisting in any
productive way, starting over an argument over who would take a penalty,
and apparently escalating into a controversy that forced manager Unai
Emery to step in and lay down the law this week.
Neymar sat out PSG’s weekend match against Montpellier
with an injury, but is expected to be at full speed in this match
against Bayern, which his new club dearly needs. Neymar, Cavani, and
fellow new signing Kylian Mbappé will all need to be on the same page
and at their best to help their club take down an intimidating Bayern
Munich side that, despite getting off to a slow start in the Bundesliga,
is still one of the best teams in the world right now and must be
treated as such on the pitch.
Both teams have just one guaranteed absence each, with
Paris Saint-Germain missing Javier Pastore, and Bayern Munich going
without Juan Bernat. It’s the players who won’t be at full fitness if
they play that could have a bigger impact on how the match plays out,
though, as Ángel Di María for PSG and the duo of David Alaba and Thiago
Alcântara are all vital to their respective teams’ plans, and if they’re
playing far below their capability it will greatly harm their clubs’
ability to execute their game plan.
Match info, plus how to watch on TV and stream
Match Date/Time: Wednesday, 2:45 p.m. ET, 8:45 p.m. local
Venue: Parc des Princes, Paris, France
TV: Canal+ (France), WDR 2, ZDF, Sky Sport 1 HD (Germany)
Online: Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Sports Go, ESPN3, WatchESPN (U.S.), Sky Go Deutschland (Germany)
Make friends: Check out Bavarian Football Works for more coverage of Bayern Munich.
Listings for more countries can be found at LiveSoccerTV.
No comments:
Post a Comment