The most revered football competition- the Champions League is finally back with the round of 16 ties, as PSG and Bayern collide in a big-name continental contest in France, while Tottenham Hotspur vs AC Milan also battle it out at Milan in Italy. But the big pre-match talking point was when PSG’s centre-back, Sergio Ramos, cast doubts over his move to the French capital.
Ahead of tonight’s star-studded first-leg clash on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, Sergio Ramos has reflected on his first year and a half in the French capital. The centre-back missed a lot of last season with injuries which made him cast doubts over his move, but has become a key player in 2022/23 and he is starting to feel confident that he made the right move. “Leaving Real Madrid was obviously a very big change,” he said.
“My goal is always to continue winning. I won a lot with Real Madrid, but I thought this was a good opportunity for a change of scenery, to try to help a team like PSG. Everything was very difficult at first. You have to find a home and settle down, especially when you come with a family, with four kids.
“At first, having taken that leap, everything went wrong. I got injured, and had a hard time recovering and adapting to the new system, the new team, and the new coach. You begin to doubt whether or not you’ve done the right thing, but consistency, perseverance, and hard work have defined my career. You keep fighting and it will give things more meaning in the future. The process was a bit tough at first, but everything has worked out.”
Sergio Ramos
Sergio Ramos Believes PSG Can Win The Champions League
The centre-back is determined to win the Champions League again and is convinced that the current PSG squad has what it takes. “There are a lot of stars, some of the best players in the world,” he said of the current squad.
“Winning is coming together and all looking at the same objective. If a team ends up winning, it’s because they left their personal egos behind. The aim this season is to all come together, to bring the best versions of ourselves, and stay balanced as a team. That is more important than any star we might have. Marriages are always based on a team, and in a perfect partnership, everything will go great.
“But football doesn’t always work out. The best teams don’t always win. What I can say is that I’m where I want to be and at a club with so much hunger to win the Champions League. And I want to make the most of what remains of my playing career.”
Sergio Ramos
The Stats Behind Tonight’s Big Fixture
Bayern claimed their sixth European Cup at Paris’s expense with a victory in Lisbon in August 2020, although the French club gained a measure of revenge the following season by ending the German club’s trophy defense 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 Match Day 6.
Both teams have plenty of recent knockout experience. Bayern is in the round of 16 for the 15th season running, while Paris has now progressed from the group stage for 11 consecutive campaigns.
Paris edged through on away goals in the teams’ 2020/21 quarter-final, 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 have all ended in defeat.
A 59th-minute header from Bayern winger Kingsley Coman– formerly of Paris, proved enough to separate the sides at Lisbon’s Estádio do SL Benfica on 23 August 2020, giving the German club their sixth European Cup and ensuring Paris’s first final appearance ended in defeat.
Overall, Paris has the edge with six wins to Bayern’s five. All eight of the teams’ 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 was the 3-0 winner at the Parc des Princes, with 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. Again 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.
With the statistics looking even, which team do you think will emerge victorious at the end of 90 minutes of football at 20:00 GMT?
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