Paris Saint-Germain vs Manchester City — Combined XI | UEFA Champions League 2020/21
Parc des Princes is set to stage one of the most highly-anticipated clashes in this year's UEFA Champions League as Paris Saint-Germain prepare to host Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Les Parisiens and the Cityzens made it to the knockout stages last year as well, and while City were eliminated by Olympique Lyon in the quarter-finals, PSG made their way to the finals where they lost to Bayern Munich.
PSG had a relatively rocky start to their domestic and European campaigns due to a host of injuries and due to COVID-19. However, they've recovered excellently and are still on course for a potential double this season as they sit just a point behind LOSC Lille in the league standings and are into the last four of the UCL.
They demolished Barcelona by an aggregate score of 5-2 on their way to the semi-finals, along with a high-octane six-goal tie against Bayern Munich which saw them go through on away goals.
Manchester City had a similarly slow start to their league campaign but once they they got going, their rivals found it difficult to keep pace with them. Guardiola's unstoppable side currently hold a ten-point lead over the closest contenders, Manchester United, and they recently emerged victorious at Wembley to win the EFL Cup.
The soon-to-be crowned Premier League champions comfortably saw-off Borussia Monchengladbach in the round of 16 before a tie against Borussia Dortmund where Phil Foden fired them through with two late winners across both legs.
It is a battle between two sides trying to win their first UEFA Champions League and they've spent hundreds of millions so far to achieve their goal, albeit faltering every single time. With City and PSG in the semi-finals and both sides in red hot form, it's bound to be a great battle between Mauricio Pochettino and Pep Guardiola's sides.
On that note, here is a look at the best combined XI from available players for both sides.
Goalkeeper: Keylor Navas
There's no denying that Manchester City's Ederson Moraes has had a superb season so far. In fact, City boast of the best defence in Europe with the highest clean sheets in Europe so far. However, Keylor Navas gets the nod in this line-up simply because of the number of times he's kept PSG alive in the UCL this season with crucial saves.
Navas has faced 54 shots on target in the competition this season — more than any active keeper in the competition, and more than thrice the number Ederson's faced — and still maintained a remarkable 85.2 save percentage as he's stopped 45 of them. This includes a penalty in the round of 16 against Leo Messi.
The Costa Rican has been phenomenal between the sticks for PSG and has arguably been the best keeper in the UCL this season.
Also read: 5 Best players in the UEFA Champions League so far