Real Madrid vs Paris Saint-Germain. Prediction and Preview. Probable Lineups, Team News, Stats and more
Real Madrid will host Paris Saint-Germain at Santiago Bernabéu in the second leg of UEFA Champions League round of 16. The match will take place on March 9, beginning at 01:30 IST.
The Champions League is back again, this time it’s the return leg of the 1/8 finals. On Wednesday, there will be two very different fixtures. If Manchester City’s game against Sporting Lisbon is in fact already decided, the other clash would be worth a final. Real Madrid will take on PSG – and one of the giants will be out of the tournament right in the first round of the play-offs. Will Carlo Ancelotti be able to figure out how to take revenge for their defeat in Paris in the 1st meeting? Let`s find this out.
Real Madrid News & Current Form:
This season, Real Madrid made it through the group stage of the Champions League with only one loss to Sheriff, finishing in first place, five points ahead of the Italian champions. As for the play-off stage, the first game against PSG became a big disappointment for Los Blancos. Madrid lost 0-1, but it wasn’t just about the result.
In terms of the game, Real looked very lacklustre, essentially failing to create a single chance. Even a draw in that game would have been hard to call a legitimate outcome. Carlo Ancelotti clearly miscalculated his choice of tactics. The Meringues were literally missing something..
Perhaps it was just a simple slip-up, as Ancelotti’s side now confidently top the La Liga table with 63 points, eight points ahead of their nearest pursuer, Sevilla. Karim Benzema (top scorer in the La Liga with 20 goals) and Vinicius Jr (13 goals) have helped the squad to net 56 goals, more than any other team, while conceding just 21 (2nd best in league).
After the game in Paris, the Real Madrid club seem to have pulled themselves together in earnest and produced three consecutive victories in La Liga. Last Sunday, Real Madrid thrashed Real Sociedad 4-1 at home, and before that they beat Rayo Vallecano and Alaves.
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What’s more, Madrid have already won their first trophy in 2022 as they defeated Barcelona and Athletic in the Spanish Super Cup in January and recorded another win in the mini-tournament.
Casemiro (disqualified) and Ferland Mendy will not be able to play, while the experienced Toni Kroos is injured. Without them, it will be difficult to maintain the balance of the game.
Paris Saint-Germain News & Current Form:
The Parisians are leading in the French national league by a huge margin, having in fact secured the league title back in the autumn. They have amassed 62 points in 27 games played and are 13 points adrift of their nearest pursuer, OGC Nice. The 56 goals scored and 24 conceded represent the domination. Such a ‘hothouse’ situation lazes the players. The visitors’ lack of motivation is probably the reason for their lack of recent results in Ligue 1. For example, last weekend they lost 1-0 to Nice, before that they suffered a defeat at the hands of Nantes.
There was an unsuccessful start for the team in the French Cup, where PSG advanced through only the first two legs, knocking out Aulnoy and Vannes, before losing to Nice.
However, the Champions League is another story. The Parisians got off to a fairly confident start in the Champions League this season, but eventually lost first place to Manchester City in the group stage. In six rounds, Paris Saint-Germain have recorded three wins and two draws, while scoring more than twice per match on average.
The first leg of the play-offs against Real Madrid showed just how focused and motivated the Paris superclub players can be. All Mauricio Pochettino‘s men care about is winning the most prestigious tournament on the planet this time. The Parisians dominated from the first to the last minute, but managed to score the only goal of the game only in injury time thanks to a brilliant heroics from Kylian Mbappe. That was as fair as it gets. By the way, him and Lionel Messi, has 5 goals each in the current UCL campaign.
Don`t miss out the match report 👉: An injury-time showstopper goal once again made the world admire Kylian Mbappe’s magical talent
The saga of the Frenchman’s next club has gathered considerable momentum as of now, with some literally believing that the 23-year-old striker will move to Real Madrid in the summer for free. A tournament victory for PSG could make a major difference in the situation.
Defenders Juan Bernat and Sergio Ramos and midfielder Ander Herrera will not play against Real Madrid, with top scorer Kylian Mbappe and Leandro Paredes in doubt.
“We talked, he’s fine. At the time of the blow, he cried out in pain and he was in pain. He could walk quietly two hours later. I hope he can train well and feel good after Tuesday’s session.”
says Poch about Mbappe doubts.
Real Madrid season form guide (all competitions): W-D-L-W-W-W
Paris Saint-Germain season form guide (all competitions): W-W-W-L-W-L
Real Madrid vs Paris Saint-Germain Head-To-Head Record:
| Real Madrid | Draw | Paris Saint-Germain |
| 4 | 3 | 4 |
In the 2019 group stage in the autumn, PSG took four points against the Spaniards. But in the play-offs, in 2018, Real Madrid won both games by a combined score of 5-2.
Real Madrid vs Paris Saint-Germain Predicted XI:
Real Madrid possible starting lineup: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Marcelo; Camavinga, Valverde, Modric; Asensio, Benzema, Vinicius Jr
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Mendes; Pereira, Gueye, Verratti; Messi, Mbappe, Neymar
Statistical preview of the match Real Madrid vs Paris Saint-Germain:
- At least 3 goals have been scored in 18 of Real Madrid’s last 21 home games in the Champions League.
- Real Madrid have scored at least 2 goals in 7 of their previous 9 home UEFA Champions League games.
- Real Madrid’s unbeaten home winning streak is now 13 matches (ten wins and three draws).
- PSG have won just four away games this season out of ten.
- The Parisian defence does not look impenetrable: the team have conceded in eight away games in Europe’s top competition.
- The Los Blancos are very solid defensively at home and have conceded just 4 goals in their last 10 games in Madrid
What has been said before the match:
“When we lose, we lose as a group. Our objective is to remain in what’s a very important competition for this club and we’ve got the same to lose: being knocked out of a competition that’s very important to us. This season goes on after this and let’s hope we’re still in the Champions League. I’m certain that we will be, but PSG will be thinking exactly the same”.
“Applying a high press is part of a defensive mechanism. When you play against the likes of Mbappé and Neymar, you’ve got to be very wary and I think that the fans will have a very important role to play tomorrow. In that sense, we want to produce a performance that the fans want to see and that’s what we’ll do”.
Essential PSG midfielder Marco Verratti is confident about the upcoming game:
“We will have to do even better than what we did at the Parc, because we know that these players, at home, will inevitably play differently. I think that with the players we have, we can control the match. We also have a team that can play on the counter-attack, because with the speed we have up front, with great players who can pass, with Messi, Neymar Jr, Di Maria, Kylian, when we have space, we can be even more dangerous.”
“I don’t think we can think about the first leg and the result too much. It’s like we played the first half and we’ve still got the second half to play. We’ve got a slight advantage but that doesn’t mean anything. We can’t just look to defend, especially because that’s not our style of play. We don’t know how to do that. We’ll need to try and play our game and be at 100%, whether it’s mentally or technically. We need to do our best to put in a big performance because against Madrid, 80% won’t be enough. They won’t give us anything for free. We’ll need to earn qualification.” The PSG midfielder continued.
Real Madrid vs Paris Saint-Germain Prediction:
Real Madrid lost in Paris but then pulled off three bright victories in La Liga. PSG have twice lost on the road in the French championship and we expect that they will not retain the advantage they gained in the first leg. We believe the home side will retaliate at the Bernabeu.
Parimatch News staff prediction:
We say: Real Madrid to progress further and the match total less than 4.5 – Yes.