Big Match Feature: PSG v Madrid

PSG knocked Madrid out of Europe two years in a row: in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup quarter-finals (1-3 a, 4-1 h), and in the 1993/94 European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finals (1-0 a, 1-1 h).

In the former tie, Madrid were 3-1 winners in Spain but were heading out when George Weah (33), David Ginola (81) and Valdo (87) put PSG 3-0 up in the Parc des Princes return. Iván Zamorano (90+3) seemed to have sent the tie into extra time, but Antoine Kombouaré struck a minute later to take the French side through.

MATCH BACKGROUND

PSG

This is PSG’s sixth successive round of 16 tie – and also their sixth overall. They won the first four, but exited in dramatic circumstances at this stage 12 months ago. NaijaBet.com

PSG were on the wrong end of the biggest comeback in UEFA Champions League history in last term’s round of 16.

Having won 4-0 at home to Barcelona, the French outfit succumbed 6-1 in the away leg to bow out – with Neymar, now of PSG, providing two Barça goals and an assist. NaijaBet.com

Beaten 3-1 by Bayern on matchday six to prevent them winning all six Group B games, PSG nevertheless finished the section with 25 goals, setting a new UEFA Champions League record.

At home this season PSG were 3-0 victors against Bayern on matchday two before a 5-0 defeat of RSC Anderlecht and a 7-1 win against Celtic FC.

PSG have lost just one of their last 46 European home games since crashing 4-2 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage (W30 D15) – going down 3-1 to Barcelona in the 2014/15 quarter-finals. NaijaBet.com

That defeat by Barcelona was only PSG’s second in 13 matches against Spanish visitors. Their previous loss was 3-1 against RC Deportivo La Coruña in the 2000/01 second group stage.

PSG’s home record against Spanish visitors reads W7 D5 L2; overall it is W11 D7 L11. They have won just one of the last eight such encounters, home and away.

The French club’s record in two-legged ties against Spanish sides is W5 L3. Those three defeats have come in the three most recent contests, all against Barcelona – in last season’s round of 16 and the quarter-finals of 2015 and 2013. NaijaBet.com

PSG have lost the away first leg 3-1 on only one previous occasion in a UEFA competition tie – that 1992/93 UEFA Cup quarter-final against Madrid, when they were 4-1 victors at the Parc des Princes.

That is one of seven European ties in which PSG have lost away in the first leg – they have won five of them, although the most recent ended in an aggregate defeat, against SL Benfica in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League round of 16 (1-2 a, 1-1 h).

PSG’s European shoot-out record is W0 L1: 3-4 v Rangers FC, 2001/02 UEFA Cup third round.

Real Madrid

Madrid are looking to reach the quarter-finals for the eighth successive year. Their round of 16 record is W8 L6; they lost at this stage for six years in a row between 2005 and 2010.

In the 2016/17 round of 16, Madrid were 3-1 winners both home and away to SSC Napoli.

This season, Madrid’s first away game in Group H was a 3-1 success at Borussia Dortmund on matchday two, but they lost by the same scoreline at Tottenham Hotspur FC before a 6-0 victory at APOEL FC – their biggest UEFA Champions League away win. NaijaBet.com

Ronaldo became the first player to score in all six group games, registering nine goals overall. His first-leg goals mean he has continued his record of finding the net in every game this season and is the competition’s top scorer with 11.

Zinédine Zidane’s team have lost two of their last four European away games. A 2-1 defeat at Club Atlético de Madrid in last season’s semi-final second leg (4-2 aggregate) ended Madrid’s six-game unbeaten away run in the UEFA Champions League (W3 D3). They have now lost three of their last 15 away matches, the other a 2-0 reverse at VfL Wolfsburg in the 2015/16 quarter-final first leg; they won eight of those games. NaijaBet.com

Madrid have lost just two of their last 26 European fixtures, most recently the 3-1 defeat at Tottenham on matchday four, winning 18 and drawing six.

Those 2015 games against PSG were Madrid’s last matches against French opposition. They are unbeaten in their last ten such encounters (W7 D3), going back to a 1-0 loss at Olympique Lyonnais in the 2009/10 round of 16 first leg (1-2 aggregate). NaijaBet.com

The first leg was the first time in six games Madrid had conceded a goal against French sides; they scored 13 goals themselves in that period (W5 D1).

Madrid’s record away to Ligue 1 clubs is W5 D3 L6.

While Madrid have lost both their two-legged knockout ties with PSG, against French clubs overall their knockout record is W3 L4. Their most recent contests were a 4-1 aggregate victory against Lyon in the 2010/11 round of 16 (1-1 away, 3-0 home).

Champions of Europe for a 12th time in 2016/17 – courtesy of their 4-1 final win against Juventus – Madrid aim to become the first team since Bayern München in 1976 to claim three successive European Cups. AFC Ajax (1971–73) and Madrid themselves (1956–60) are the only other sides to have won three or more in a row.

Madrid have gone through in 46 of 59 European ties after winning the first leg at home, most recently against Club Atlético de Madrid in last season’s semi-final (3-0 h, 1-2 a). When winning 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu first time out they have won five of nine ties, most recently against Napoli at this stage of the 2016/17 competition (3-1 away). NaijaBet.com

Madrid’s shoot-out record in European competition is W2 L2:

• 5-3 v Club Atlético de Madrid, 2015/16 UEFA Champions League final
• 1-3 v FC Bayern München, 2011/12 UEFA Champions League semi-final
• 3-1 v Juventus, 1986/87 European Cup second round
• 5-6 v FK Crvena zvezda, 1974/75 European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final

Coach and player links

Zidane faced PSG four times as a player for FC Girondins de Bordeaux and Juventus (W2 D1 L1).

Unai Emery twice faced Real Madrid’s B team, Castilla, as a CD Toledo player (W2). However as manager of Almería, Valencia and Sevilla he won just five of his 20 games against the Merengues (D1 L14) including a 2-0 defeat in the 2014 UEFA Super Cup with Sevilla FC.

Ángel Di María made 124 Liga appearances for Madrid between 2010 and 2015, scoring 22 goals, and was named man of the match as the Merengues lifted their tenth European title in 2014 with a 4-1 victory over neighbours Club Atlético de Madrid. NaijaBet.com

Lassana Diarra made 87 Liga appearances for Madrid between 2008 and 2013, winning the Copa del Rey in 2011 and the league title the following season.

Dani Alves was in the Juventus team beaten 4-1 by Madrid in last season’s UEFA Champions League final; Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice with Casemiro and Marco Asensio also on target for the Merengues. NaijaBet.com

Julian Draxler’s VfL Wolfsburg beat Real Madrid 2-0 in the first leg of the 2015/16 quarter finals; he was also in the side that succumbed to a Ronaldo hat-trick in a 3-0 second-leg turnaround in Spain.

Raphaël Varane’s fifth game in the RC Lens first team was a Coupe de France tie at PSG in January 2011; his side lost 5-1. Varane did help Lens to a 0-0 Ligue 1 draw at the Parc des Princes the following month. NaijaBet.com

Karim Benzema faced PSG seven times during his time in France with Lyon (W4 D2 L1). He was part of the Lyon team that beat PSG 1-0 in the Coupe de France final in May 2008.

Marcelo scored Madrid’s goal in a 3-1 defeat by PSG in an Ohio friendly in 2016.

Alphonse Areola helped Villarreal CF to a 1-0 Liga win against Madrid in December 2015 during a season-long loan spell at the Yellow Submarine. NaijaBet.com

International team-mates:

Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Dani Alves, Neymar & Casemiro, Marcelo (Brazil)

Layvin Kurzawa, Adrien Rabiot, Kylian Mbappé, Lassana Diarra & Raphaël Varane (France)

Kevin Trapp, Julian Draxler & Toni Kroos (Germany)

Have played together:

Julian Draxler & Borja Mayoral (VfL Wolfsburg 2016)

Dani Alves & Sergio Ramos (Sevilla FC 2003–05)

Have played in France:

Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyonnais 2005–09)

Raphaël Varane (RC Lens 2010/11)

Have played in Spain:

Yuri Berchiche (Real Valladolid CF, 2009/10, Real Unión 2010–12, SD Eibar 2012–14, Real Sociedad 2014–17) Neymar (FC Barcelona 2013–17)

Alphonse Areola (Villarreal CF, 2015/16)

Dani Alves (Sevilla FC 2002–08, FC Barcelona 2008–16)

Thiago Motta (FC Barcelona 2001–07, Club Atlético de Madrid 2007/08)

A Germany team including Trapp, Kroos and Draxler drew 2-2 against France, who fielded Mbappé, Rabiot, Varane and substitute Kurzawa, in a friendly on 14 November 2017.

MATCH FACTS

PSG

UEFA Champions League squad changes
In: Lassana Diarra
Out: Rémy Descamps, Moussa Diaby, Alec Georgen, Lucas Moura

Neymar will incur a suspension with his next booking.

Unai Emery’s side have scored 13 goals in winning their four games since the first leg, conceding two. The defeat in Madrid is the only game PSG have not won in their last 11 matches in all competitions; the PSGians have lost only two of their last 20 games, winning the rest. NaijaBet.com

Neymar suffered a broken fifth metatarsal and an ankle sprain in the 3-0 Ligue 1 defeat of Olympique de Marseille on 25 February, and has undergone surgery in Brazil.

PSG have scored three or more goals in each of their last eight home games, 33 goals in total. The Ligue 1 leaders have won all 19 of their games at the Parc des Princes in all competitions this season, scoring 76 goals and conceding 12, and are unbeaten in their last 51 home matches (W42 D9). They have not scored fewer than two goals in any of their 19 home games this season and have scored three or more in 16 of them. NaijaBet.com

Edinson Cavani became PSG’s record scorer in all competitions with his 157th goal for the club against Montpellier Hérault SC on 27 January, surpassing Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s total of 156. The Uruguayan has since added a further five goals to his total, scoring in each of his last three games.

Cavani, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé have scored 16 of the club’s 26 goals in this season’s UEFA Champions League.

Emery’s team beat Stade Rennais FC 3-2 in the French League Cup semi-finals on 30 January to reach another final in the competition. PSG play AS Monaco FC in Bordeaux on 31 March seeking a fifth straight title, and a record eighth League Cup.

PSG reached the French Cup semi-finals with a 3-0 home win against Marseille on 28 February, Ángel Di María scoring twice with Cavani getting the other. They will visit SM Caen in the last four on 18 April.

PSG have now gone four years undefeated in domestic cup competitions, winning 39 games in a row since 22 Jan 2014, when they lost 2-1 at home to Montpellier in the Coupe de France round of 32.

Di María has seven goals in his last six matches in all competitions, including the opener in Saturday’s 2-0 win at ES Troyes AC which left PSG 14 points clear in Ligue 1.

Eighteen-year-old Timothy Weah made his professional debut as a second-half substitute at Troyes.

Marquinhos picked up a left quadricep injury against Marseille on 25 February.

Dani Alves was included in the UEFA.com Fans’ Team of the Year 2017.

REAL MADRID

UEFA Champions League squad changes
In: None
Out: None

Dani Carvajal is available again after a two-match ban.

Ronaldo has scored 11 goals in this season’s competition – four more than any other player. He has also had 25 shots on target and 21 shots off target, also competition highs. NaijaBet.com

Madrid’s five-game winning run – and seven-match unbeaten sequence (W6 D1) – was ended by a 1-0 defeat at RCD Espanyol on 27 February. That was their fifth Liga defeat of the season, two more than they suffered in their 2016/17 title-winning campaign.

Ronaldo was rested for that defeat but returned to score twice in Saturday’s 3-1 home win against Getafe CF and has scored in seven of his last eight appearances in all competitions – 14 goals overall.

The Merengues have scored in 17 of their 20 away games in all competitions this season, running up 46 goals in total. NaijaBet.com

Madrid lifted the FIFA Club World Cup for the second year in a row – and the third time in four years – with a 1-0 defeat of Brazil’s Grêmio FBPA on 17 December. Ronaldo scored the winner having also been on target in the 2-1 semi-final win against Al Jazira Club of the UAE.

Zidane’s side were knocked out of the Copa del Rey in the quarter-finals, losing on away goals to CD Leganés. A 1-0 away win in the first leg preceded a 2-1 home reverse.

Karim Benzema, whose next UEFA Champions League appearance will be his 100th, scored a last-minute goal in a 5-3 Liga win at Real Betis Balompié on 18 February – his first league goal since 25 November. Having converted a penalty in a 4-0 defeat of Deportivo Alavés six days later, the Frenchman now has two goals in his last five matches.

Madrid have kept only one clean sheet in their last 11 games in all competitions, and two in the last 15. NaijaBet.com

Toni Kroos (knee) and Luka Modric (thigh) have been out since the first leg with PSG, while Marcelo returned as a second-half substitute against Getafe having been sidelined since 18 February by a hamstring injury. Jesús Vallejo has not played since 18 January, also due to a hamstring problem.

Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Kroos and Modric were all included in the UEFA.com Fans’ Team of the Year 2017.