Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City are perhaps the two greatest teams to have never won the Champions League and it should be a blockbuster encounter when they meet in the first-leg of their semi-final tie at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night.
Both teams have been knocking on the door to reach the pinnacle of European club football for over a decade now and PSG did make it through to their first final last season before coming unstuck against eventual champions Bayern Munich.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side got their revenge on Bayern in the quarter-finals of this year’s competition and, having also seen off Barcelona in the last 16, perhaps the French champions are now ready to go all the way.
Unlike PSG, City have never made it to a Champions League final and this will only be their second appearance at the last-four stage and first since Pep Guardiola took charge in 2016.
The Citizens have seen off Borussia Monchengladbach and Dortmund en route to the semi-finals and they will be dreaming of being crowned champions of Europe for the first time.
PSG are priced at 49/20 to win Wednesday’s first-leg, while City are available at 11/10 to take a lead into next week’s return match in Manchester and the draw is on offer at 14/5.
Pep to Master Another City Success on the Road
Following a slow start to the season, City have upped their game considerably over recent months, particularly away from home, and they have won their last 17 matches on the road across all competitions, which is a record for an English top-flight team.
The Premier League leaders are also unbeaten in their previous nine Champions League matches on their travels, although their last away defeat in the competition did come against Tottenham in 2019, who were then managed by PSG boss Pochettino.
PSG’s form is also good, they have won five of their last six across all competitions, but they have lost three times in the Champions League this season, including twice on home spoil against Bayern and Manchester United.
City perhaps look good value at 11/10 to win the match although the attacking quality of PSG, who have scored 112 goals across all competitions this season, means backing the visitors to win and both teams to score at 47/20 might prove the way to go.
Mbappe to Shine for Hosts
One of the main reasons why PSG should at least get on the scoresheet on Wednesday is Kylian Mbappe, who is expected to be fit despite limping out of Saturday’s Ligue 1 victory at Metz.
The France international has scored a staggering 37 goals already this season, well over double the next highest scorer in the PSG squad, with 19 of those strikes coming in his last 14 appearances.
Mbappe has also been the scourge of City before in the Champions League, as he scored twice to help previous club Monaco advance past the Citizens at the last-16 stage in 2017.
City have been strong defensively for most of the season, but they have only kept one clean sheet across their last six games and Mbappe seems a likely option at 6/4 to get the better of Guardiola’s backline and score.
There are likely to be plenty of twists and turns during Wednesday’s match and with the second leg to come at the Etihad Stadium next Tuesday, we won’t have long to wait to find out which of these two great sides will have moved a step closer to claiming a first Champions League crown.
*All odds correct at time of writing.
