The Parc des Princes plays host to two sides who are looking to translate superb domestic form to UEFA Champions League (UCL) success, as Paris Saint-Germain and PSV collide in the French capital. Luis Enrique’s men continued their unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season with a 4-2 win against Strasbourg on Saturday night (W6, D2), but needed a late goal to beat Girona on matchday one of the UCL before being comfortably beaten by Arsenal (2-0).
When combining such a start with past failures in this competition, the Parisians are perhaps unsurprisingly placed as just seventh favourites to win this competition by Opta. There appears little doubt about their ability to progress to the knockout stages however, as PSG have lost just one of their last 37 home games in the group/league phase (W29, D7), scoring in each of the last 26 of those, last blanking back in October 2015 against Real Madrid.
PSV travel south in even stronger domestic form than their hosts, boasting a perfect nine wins from nine in the Eredivisie after beating AZ at the weekend (2-1). However, Peter Bosz’s men were beaten by Juventus on matchday one and held to a 1-1 draw by Sporting CP before the international break, so they’ve plenty of work to do to get their European campaign back on track.
This appears a tough place to start for many reasons, not least that PSV have won just two of their last 18 European visits to French clubs (D9, L7), last winning on these shores in September 2006. And considering that PSV have won just one of their previous 18 away matches in the UCL proper (D5, L12), another long night could be in store for the Dutch outfit.
Players to watch: Since the start of last season, no player has created as many chances from open play in the UCL than Achraf Hakimi (30), although none of them were converted into a goal by a teammate! PSV midfielder Jerdy Schouten scored last time out in the UCL and has been a commanding presence in the midfield, recovering possession for his side more times than any other player in the competition pre-round (23).
Hot streak: PSV have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 11 UCL proper away matches.
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