5 reasons why Bayern Munich will struggle against Paris Saint-Germain | UEFA Champions League 2019-20
The free-scoring Bayern Munich will take on the exciting Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League final at the end of an intense 12-day knockout tournament in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.
The Bavarians scored 18 goals from their 4 knockout matches and simply never looked like they could be stopped on their way to the finals. However, Paris Saint-Germain could prove to be their toughest test yet with the Parisians tenacity being a driving factor behind their reaching the finals.
It has been pretty straight forward for Robert Lewandowski and co. so far but it is going to be anything but that tonight. Let's take a look at 5 reasons why Bayern Munich will struggle against Paris Saint-Germain.
#5 Neymar and Kylian Mbappe's form
Neymar and Kylian Mbappe have been in red hot form and they are two players that no defenders want to go up against one-on-one. The twinkle-toed Brazilian has been breaking ankles for fun through the knockout stages, leaving defenders lost in his wake or playing catch-up.
It was Mbappe's late entry as a sub that changed the game against Atalanta and with him fully fit, the duo are expected to pose a lot of problems to Bayern Munich's defence.
Alphonso Davies has been enjoying a good spell and has been getting involved in attack a lot lately as well. However, he will be pegged back more than usual because he will have Mbappe to contain.
#4 Paris Saint-Germain pace can destroy Bayern Munich's high backline
One of the main reasons why the Bundesliga champions have been able to dominate teams in the knockout stages was because they overload the opposition half with their central defenders maintaining a very high backline.
As a result, Bayern press very high up the pitch and always have a lot of options to turn to when they are on the ball. The most efficient way to circumvent a high-line is to get your attackers to use their pace to make runs in behind the defence.
Once the high backline is breached, Paris Saint-Germain's attackers will have acres of space ahead of them. As such, with the likes of Neymar, Mbappe, Icardi and Di Maria, Paris Saint-Germain always pose the threat of releasing one of them into Bayern's half and catching their defenders flat-footed.
As such, Bayern Munich will need to alter their tactics or be on their toes throughout the course of the game. This will, in itself, hamper Bayern Munich's momentum.