Both Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain recorded wins in their respective league ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League semifinals first leg in Paris. PSG took care of business in Ligue 1, beating Angers 3-0 away from home and Bayern came from 3-0 down at halftime in Mainz to win 4-3 in their first match after having been crowned Bundesliga champions for the 35th time. Granted, Vincent Kompany had to bring on some of his heavy hitters in the second half to get the job done a la Harry Kane, Michael
Olise, and Jamal Musiala.
For PSG’s 3-0 win at Angers that tilted the Ligue 1 title race more in their favor after Lens’ 3-3 draw at Brest, Enrique also made wholesale changes from what would be considered to be his strongest eleven — the same side that beat Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield in the Champions League quarterfinals. It’s clear that one eye is strongly fixated on the Bayern clash even though the Parisians are still in a title race with Lens in the French top flight.
Kompany did make several rotations for the Mainz match, too, but that was also Bayern’s third match between the 4-3 Real Madrid win and leg one vs PSG. Enrique’s side have now only played twice in between the Liverpool win on Merseyside and the first leg vs Bayern.
Ahead of the massive semifinal, first leg clash, Enrique did not want to give away any tips or hints to the German Rekordmeister. “The semifinal against Bayern has started. I won’t be giving them any information. We’re going to play this semi-final against the best team in Europe, but we’re the reigning champions, and we want to stay that way,” he stressed to French outlet L’Equipe (via @iMiaSanMia).
All of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé, and Désiré Doué were given complete rests vs. Angers, so it’s safe to assume that Enrique will put all three of them in the starting eleven against Bayern and midfielder Warren Zaïre-Emery, who had two fantastic legs against Liverpool, only clocked 45 minutes on Saturday. Nuno Mendes also only made a brief cameo and is a usual starter for Enrique and Marquinhos was given the day off, but will surely be in the squad to face Bayern while Vitinha still remains a major doubt to be involved.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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