Paris Saint-Germain has two Ligue 1 contests before the second-leg match against Bayern Munich on March 8 at Allianz Arena. The capital club will likely be without Neymar Jr., who suffered an ankle injury last Sunday in the 4-3 win over Lille OSC.
Ahead of the return leg, PSG legend Pauleta believes that the French giants should be considered the favorites heading into the match and any other matchup the capital club plays. In an interview with AS, Pauleta explained why he has this belief.
“PSG always has to be one of the favorites to have those three players (Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe), but the big favorites are always Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich; those clubs are always the favorites because they are always there, then it’s true that when you look at teams like Bayern and Madrid, those are the favorites,” Pauleta told the Spanish media outlet.
“Then if you look at other clubs like PSG, Manchester City, Chelsea, who have spent a lot of money to win the Champions League and I hope that one day PSG will win the Champions League and I’m sure that one day that trophy will arrive, It is a very important club in France and as a fan of the French club I hope to see them win the Champions League one day, although right now it is very difficult.”
Even without Neymar, on paper, Mbappe and Messi should be enough for PSG to pose a threat offensively to Bayern Munich. However, the Ligue 1 side’s current form since the return of club football after the 2022 FIFA World Cup has been sluggish.
PSG is down 1-0 on aggregate to the German club, so it’s not a mountain to overcome. Nonetheless, their current form doesn’t convince many they can secure the result that will allow them to get through to the quarterfinals.
After the dramatic win over Lille last weekend, it will be interesting to see if the team can parlay that into a positive run of matches leading into the Bayern Munich contest.
