PSG vs Bayern Munich LIVE: Team news and updates from blockbuster Champions League semi-final – UK Times

These two sides have faced off 15 times in the Champions League, and nine times across the last nine campaigns.

Of these matches, PSG have won six and Bayern have won nine, including the 2020 final.

The Germans have won each of their last five games against PSG, including once earlier this season with a 2-1 victory in November.

Kompany did speak in his pre-match press conference despite being suspended for tonight, and here’s what he had to say:

“Danksy has plenty of experience, was on the touchline for a while in England. I’ve got 100% confidence in the staff and everyone else,” he explained on his assistant taking over.

“I can turn the question around: What do they do with our attackers? It goes both ways. Both teams have an incredible amount of creativity, also in terms of positioning and finding solutions. It’s about details, intensity, and energy. We’re playing each other four times now. We have experience against them, but so does the opponent.” Kompany said when asked about the dangers presented by PSG’s attack.

On Luis Enrique, he added: “He’s doing an incredible job. A year and a half ago, when we beat Paris, a swarm of journalists was criticising Luis Enrique. But I felt back then what kind of team they had, and that something was happening here.

“They had a young team, but they sent a clear message. I wasn’t surprised that they won the Champions League. You can see that there’s a real team spirit in Luis Enrique’s teams,” he said.

A reminder that Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany is suspended from his usual touchline position this evening after being yellow carded in the second leg against Real Madrid.

The Belgian picked up his third yellow card in Bayern’s 12th Champions League game, and therefore will now serve a one-match touchline ban that also means he cannot enter the Bayern locker room this evening.

Kompany’s assistant Aaron Danks – who briefly served as caretaker boss for Villa in 2022 – will take over this evening at the Parc des Princes.

PSG boss Luis Enrique said in his pre-match press conference that his side and Bayern “are the two best teams in Europe, even if Arsenal have also had a great season”.

“In terms of consistency, maybe Bayern are a little bit above us. But we have shown that no team is better than us,” he explained.

“It is a real pleasure and it is deserved. You need to be ambitious to get to this stage and I think we are. We still want to go that bit further,” added the Spaniard.

These two sides are the joint-top scorers in the competition this season with 38 goals apiece.

PSG have scored two or more goals in each of their last eight knockout stage games in the competition, which is the joint-longest run in history alongside Barcelona in 2015-2016.

The extra fifth place was sealed after Arsenal reached the Champions League quarter-finals. It is the second consecutive year that the Premier League has earned an additional spot, with the English top flight at the top of the European Performance Standings (EPS).

Last term saw an unprecedented six English clubs qualify for the Champions League; five by their league position, and with Tottenham earning their place in the league phase after winning the Europa League.

The same could happen again this term, with the Premier League appearing as one of the more prominent beneficiaries to the competition’s expansion to 36 teams that came into effect at the beginning of 2024/25.

Here’s what needs to happen:

Bayern Munich are poised to initiate contract negotiations with star striker Harry Kane at the end of the season, according to supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

The England captain, who arrived from Tottenham in a £100m deal in 2023, has been a revelation for the German giants, netting 138 goals in 141 appearances.

With just one year remaining on his current deal by summer, the 32-year-old has consistently expressed his contentment in Munich, where his family is understood to be well-settled.

And this is the story of how holders PSG overcame Liverpool once more to book their place in the final four…

Déjà vu all over again for Liverpool, eliminated by the French champions for a second successive season, but this time without the drama of penalties or the sense of what might have been. A Paris rematch brought the same scoreline as last week, another 2-0 win. Ousmane Dembele, who got an Anfield winner last season, added a brace. Compared to last year, the margin of victory was bigger as Paris Saint-Germain secured a semi-final against Real Madrid or, more probably, Bayern Munich. This trophy may remain in their grasp for another year.

Liverpool can reflect on the damage done in Paris last week though the broader conclusion might be that, after £450m of spending, they have slipped further away from the European elite. They finished third in the league phase this year but they have rarely looked plausible winners of the competition. PSG, 11th in a large league table, are in the last four, their blend of defiant defending, electric attacking and midfield finesse looking them a class apart from the English champions.

A reminder of how Bayern got to this stage…

Less than three minutes after Madrid substitute Eduardo Camavinga had been sent off, Diaz drilled home his side’s third equaliser before Olise struck in stoppage time to clinch a 4-3 win on the night.

The victory extended Bayern’s unbeaten run to 16 games in all competitions and sealed a 6-4 aggregate triumph, a first over the Spanish giants in a two-legged tie since 2012.