Big Match Feature: Bayern v PSG

Form guide

Bayern

Form (all competitions, most recent first): WWLWWW

Where they stand: First in Bundesliga, German Cup quarterfinals

Paris

Form (all competitions, most recent first): WWWLLL

Where they stand: First in Ligue 1

Bayern München welcome Paris Saint-Germain to Germany holding a slender advantage in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 thanks to a 1-0 first-leg win in the French capital.

The teams have become familiar UEFA Champions League foes in recent years, with this their fourth pairing in six seasons. The first instalment of this tie ended 1-0 to the German champions with the winner coming in the 53rd minute from former Paris winger Kingsley Coman, who had also headed the only goal of the 2020 UEFA Champions League final between the sides in Lisbon. Bayern held on at the Parc des Princes despite losing France defender Benjamin Pavard to a second yellow card in the closing stages.

That 2020 success was Bayern's sixth European Cup, although the French outfit gained a measure of revenge the following season by ending the German club's trophy defence in the last eight.

Bayern became the first club to win all six games in their UEFA Champions League section on three occasions this season as they finished eight points clear in Group C. Paris also remained unbeaten but lost out to Benfica for first place in Group H thanks to a late flurry of goals for the Portuguese side on Matchday 6.

Both teams have plenty of recent knockout experience. Bayern are in the round of 16 for the 15th season running, while Paris have now progressed from the group stage for 11 consecutive campaigns.

Previous meetings

Paris edged through on away goals in the teams' 2020/21 quarterfinal, doing the damage in the first leg in Munich. Kylian Mbappé struck after just three minutes with Marquinhos doubling the lead before the half-hour and, though former Paris forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (37) and Thomas Müller (60) replied, Mbappé's second goal of the evening (68) gave the visitors victory.

Choupo-Moting got the only goal of the second leg at the Parc des Princes but the French side held on to go through. That was Bayern's first away win against Paris, their first four such fixtures having all ended in defeat.

A 59th-minute header from Coman proved enough to separate the sides at Lisbon's Estádio do SL Benfica on 23 August 2020, giving Bayern their sixth European Cup and ensuring Paris's first final appearance ended in defeat.

The teams now have six wins apiece against their opponents. All eight of their matches before that 2020 final had come in the UEFA Champions League group stage – and all but one of those contests were won by the home side.

In the 2017/18 group stage, Paris were 3-0 winners at the Parc des Princes – Neymar scoring the home side's final goal – before a 3-1 Bayern success in Munich in which Mbappé scored for Paris.

In the first group stage in 2000/01 – a campaign that culminated in Bayern winning the competition for the fourth time – home substitute Laurent Leroy's 90th-minute strike gave Paris a 1-0 victory at the Parc des Princes. However, Bayern turned the tables in Munich, goals from Hasan Salihamidžic (3) – now the club's sporting director – and substitute Paulo Sérgio (89) securing a 2-0 success.

In 1997/98 Bayern ran out 5-1 winners in the first game in Germany, Giovane Elber and Carsten Jancker each scoring twice and Thomas Helmer getting the other with Marco Simone scoring Paris's consolation. Paris were 3-1 victors in France, their goals coming from Franck Gava (17), Florian Maurice (73) and Leroy (75); Markus Babbel had levelled for Bayern.

The French club came out on top twice in 1994/95, George Weah and Daniel Bravo earning a 2-0 home win and Weah, again, claiming the only goal in Germany – the only away victory either team had managed in this fixture before each did so in 2020/21. There have now been three successive away wins in the fixture.

Form guide

Bayern

Bayern are in the UEFA Champions League proper for the 26th time, one behind joint record holders Real Madrid and Barcelona, and the 15th season in a row.

The Munich club, who claimed the last of their six European Cups in 2020, have won their group in each of the last five seasons and 19 times overall, two short of Barcelona's competition record; they have featured in the knockout rounds every season since 2007/08, when they were in the UEFA Cup, and have not failed to progress beyond the initial group stage since 2002/03.

In 2021/22 Bayern won all six group games for the second time to finish first in Group E ahead of Benfica, Barcelona and Dynamo Kyiv. They then eased past Salzburg in the round of 16 (1-1 a, 7-1 h) but, for the second year running, were eliminated in the quarterfinals, going out to Villarreal (0-1 a, 1-1 h).

Bayern have not failed to reach the UEFA Champions League semifinals three seasons running since 2008/09.

Julian Nagelsmann's team claimed the Bundesliga title in 2021/22, Bayern's record-extending tenth successive league championship and 32nd overall.

Bayern kicked off this season with a 2-0 win at Inter Milan on Matchday 1, completing another perfect group stage campaign – for the third time in four seasons – with victory against the Nerazzurri in Munich by the same scoreline. They also beat Barcelona 2-0 at home and 3-0 away and Viktoria Plzen 5-0 at home and 4-2 away.

That 3-2 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the 2020/21 round of 16 first leg ended Bayern's run of eight successive home UEFA Champions League victories and is one of only two of their last 17 matches in the competition in Munich they have not won, the other last season's draw against Villarreal.

Bayern's round of 16 record is W14 L4. A 2018/19 defeat by Liverpool (0-0 a, 1-3 h) is the only one of their last 11 last-16 ties they have failed to win.

The 2020/21 defeat by Paris ended Bayern's run of seven successive victories against French clubs in knockout ties, a sequence that included three finals. They have won seven of their nine ties against Ligue 1 opponents.

Bayern have won 11 of their last 13 games against French clubs, home and away; the exceptions were the 3-0 defeat in Paris in September 2017 and the first-leg loss in the 2020/21 quarterfinals.

Bayern's record at home to Ligue 1 visitors is W11 D2 L4. The 2021 defeat against Paris ended a run of four successive victories against French clubs in Munich, Bayern having not won in four (D2 L2) before that sequence.

Bayern have lost only one of their 27 Uefa ties in which they won the away first leg, going out to Inter Milan in the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League round of 16 (1-0 a, 2-3 h). That was the most recent of six ties in which they had triumphed 1-0 in the away first leg, the previous two having been in successive ties during their triumphant 2000/01 campaign – against Manchester United in the quarterfinals (2-1 h) and Real Madrid in the semis (2-1 h). The most recent of their 26 aggregate wins was against Lazio at this stage of the 2020/21 competition (4-1 a, 2-1 h).

Bayern's record in six UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W5 L1:

4-3 v Åtvidaberg, 1973/74 European Cup first round

9-8 v PAOK, 1983/84 Uefa Cup second round

5-4 v Valencia, 2000/01 Uefa Champions League final

3-1 v Real Madrid, 2011/12 Uefa Champions League semifinal

3-4 v Chelsea, 2011/12 Uefa Champions League final

5-4 v Chelsea, 2013 Uefa Super Cup

Paris

This is Paris's 15th UEFA Champions League campaign – one short of Lyon's French record – and an 11th in succession, also one shy of Lyon's unbroken run of appearances from 2000/01 to 2011/12. They have now reached the knockout rounds in all of their last 11 seasons in the competition, last failing to progress beyond the group stage in 2004/05.

In 2021/22, a team coached by Mauricio Pochettino finished second behind Manchester City in Group A, collecting 11 points from their six games, and looked set to reach a third successive quarterfinal when they beat Real Madrid 1-0 at home in the round of 16 first leg and doubled that advantage in the return – Mbappé scoring both goals – only to concede three times in the final half-hour in Spain to bow out.

The French club's most successful UEFA Champions League campaign came in 2019/20, when they reached the final but lost 1-0 to Bayern in Lisbon.

Paris claimed their tenth Ligue 1 title in 2021/22, matching St-Étienne's 41-year-old national record, and have taken the title in eight of the last ten campaigns.

Pochettino was replaced as coach in the summer by Christophe Galtier, who guided LOSC Lille to the league title ahead of Paris in 2020/21 and also led Nice to last season's French Cup final with a round of 16 penalty shoot-out victory over Paris at the Parc des Princes en route.

Galtier's new side won four of their six Group H games, beating Juventus 2-1 home and away and Maccabi Haifa 3-1 away and 7-2 at home. They also drew 1-1 twice with Benfica, who struck five times in the final half-hour on Matchday 6 to take first place ahead of Paris on away goals scored.

Paris have been victorious in 12 of their last 25 away UEFA Champions League fixtures (D5 L8), but their Matchday 6 win at Juventus this season was only their second success in their last eight (D3 L3).

This season's four wins have made it nine victories in the Parisians' last 20 European matches (D5 L6).

Paris's round of 16 record is W6 L4; last season's defeat by Real Madrid made it four losses in their last six ties at this stage.

The first-leg win at Bayern in the quarterfinals two seasons ago ended Paris's run of three successive defeats in Germany; their overall record there is W4 D2 L6.

The 3-1 defeat at Bayern on Matchday 6 of the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League ended Paris's seven-match unbeaten run against German clubs, home and away (W5 D2). Their overall record since then is W5 D1 L5.

The 2020 final defeat by Bayern is Paris's sole reverse in knockout ties against German clubs (W5). They had beaten Borussia Dortmund (1-2 a, 2-0 h) and Leipzig (3-0 n) in the 2019/20 round of 16 and semifinal respectively having defeated Wolfsburg in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 32 (2-0 h, 3-1 a) and Bayer Leverkusen in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League round of 16 (4-0 a, 2-1 h) before overcoming Bayern in 2020/21.

Paris have suffered only six previous home first-leg defeats in UEFA competition, and lost every tie, suffering a second-leg loss on each occasion, most recently against Manchester City in the 2020/21 semifinals (1-2 h, 0-2 a). Two of those defeats came after a 1-0 home first-leg loss; against Juventus in the 1989/90 Uefa Cup second round (1-2 a) and AC Milan in the 1994/95 UEFA Champions League semifinals (0-2 a).

Paris's record in one Uefa penalty shoot-out is W0 L1:

3-4 v Rangers, 2001/02 Uefa Cup third round

What the coaches say

Julian Nagelsmann, Bayern coach: "We need to avoid taking too long to settle into the game. One job we have will be to avoid having too much space behind our backline. It will be important to cut off passes to [Lionel] Messi. Paris have a clear identity and habits that you can exploit, but they can hit you on the counter if you get it wrong."

Christophe Galtier, Paris coach: "We must play a lot more than we did in the first leg. We have another game plan. The presence of Kylian Mbappé gives more depth. We want to play higher and put on more pressure. And if possible get the ball back earlier from Bayern."

Predicted line-ups

Bayern: Sommer; Stanišic, Upamecano, De Ligt; Coman, Kimmich, Goretzka, Davies; Müller, Musiala; Choupo-Moting

Suspended: Pavard

Misses next match if booked: Kimmich, Mazraoui

Paris: Donnarumma; Ramos, Marquinhos, Danilo; Hakimi, Ruiz, Verratti, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes; Messi, Mbappé

Misses next match if booked: Neymar, Ramos, Verratti