Connect with us

உலகம்

Bayern Munich vs PSG: Champions League – preview, team news, start, lineups

Published

on

PSG travel to Munich defending a 5-4 lead from a thrilling semifinal first leg, as both coaches promise more attacking football.

Who: Bayern Munich vs Paris Saint-Germain

What: Champions League semifinal, second leg

Where: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany

When: Wednesday at 9pm (19:00 GMT)

How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 16:00 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.

PSG head to Munich for the second leg of their semifinal against Bayern on Wednesday, defending a 5-4 lead from an incredible first meeting that was one of the greatest matches in the competition’s history.

Some of the game’s leading attackers were given free rein to go for the jugular as the match became the highest-scoring Champions League semifinal leg of all time, and both managers have promised to double down on their approach in the second leg.

The rewards for a semifinal victory are a place in the final on May 30 at the Puskas Arena in Budapest against either Arsenal or Atletico Madrid.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele scored twice each as Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 5-4 in an extraordinary encounter.

The first half alone last Tuesday night was wild, with Harry Kane giving Bayern the lead from a penalty, only for Kvaratskhelia to equalise before Joao Neves headed the hosts in front at an enthralled Parc des Princes.

Michael Olise made it 2-2, but a Dembele penalty in first-half stoppage time had the reigning champions back ahead at the interval.

Kvaratskhelia and Dembele then both scored again to put PSG seemingly out of sight, only for Dayot Upamecano to pull one back before Luis Diaz made it 5-4.

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany has pledged to stick with his high-octane, high-risk approach as the German champions and six-time European Cup winners look to blast their way to the final.

“I also would be glad to keep a clean sheet, but what we absolutely cannot do is lose what made us strong,” Kompany said.

He added, “PSG were never going to change the style that won them the Champions League last year.

“We come into the match as the team that has won the most games and scored the most goals in Europe.

“Is anyone going to take a backward step? Nobody will accept that.”

Already Bundesliga champions, Bayern have scored 116 goals in 32 games – a record in the league and among the best anywhere in Europe.

Their attacking approach does leave them vulnerable, however. The Bavarians have conceded 16 goals in their past six games, with just one clean sheet.

After Bayern came from 2-0 and 3-2 down to draw 3-3 with Heidenheim on Saturday, with an Olise goal in the 10th minute of stoppage time, Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich also promised more of the same against PSG.

“We’re not going to change our style of play in three days and just sit back and defend,” Kimmich said.

“We have to win, regardless of whether it’s another 5-4, a 3-2, or a 1-0 victory.”

If PSG can see off a brilliant Bayern team, Luis Enrique will be a step closer to becoming just the fifth coach to win three European Cups or Champions Leagues, after Carlo Ancelotti, Bob Paisley, Zinedine Zidane and Pep Guardiola.

“It was the best game I have been fortunate enough to be involved in as a coach,” Luis Enrique said after last week’s first leg.

He nevertheless believes his side will need to score another three goals at the Allianz Arena to see off the German champions.

Enrique and his side need not look too far back for inspiration – their last visit to Munich ended in PSG hammering Inter Milan 5-0 in last season’s final as they won the Champions League for the first time in their history.

His side also stand on the verge of another Ligue 1 title as they lead second-placed Lens by six points with three games left to play – although their financial advantage over the rest of France’s clubs makes that far less remarkable.

“Last season, we achieved the objective that everyone around us had been dreaming of,” said the Spaniard on the eve of this campaign.

“But we want to continue making history, and that now means winning two Champions Leagues in a row.”

Dembele ⁠struck twice ⁠to confirm PSG’s place in the last four ⁠with a 2-0 victory over Liverpool, sealing a 4-0 aggregate ⁠win at a rain-soaked Anfield.

Diaz and ⁠Olise scored ⁠late goals to give the hosts a dramatic 4-3 win over Real Madrid ⁠in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals and send them into the last four on a 6-4 aggregate score after a thrilling tie.

The two clubs have played each other 17 times and have never drawn – Bayern won nine of those games, while PSG won eight.

Bayern won European Cup/Champions League titles in 1974, 1975, 1976, 2001, 2013, and 2020.

The Bavarians beat PSG 1-0 in the 2020 final through a 59th-minute goal scored by former PSG player Kingsley Coman.

PSG won their only Champions League title last season.

Champions League semifinals are often more memorable than the title matches.

One year ago, an exciting Inter Milan-Barcelona contest was as widely praised as the PSG-Bayern opener. A 3-3 first leg in Barcelona was just an appetiser for Inter’s rollercoaster 4-3 win in extra time at San Siro.

In 2022, Real Madrid somehow rallied in stoppage time of the second leg to deny Manchester City victory. Madrid won 3-1 in extra time. The wild first leg went 4-3 to City in Manchester.

A vintage knockout phase in 2019 was capped by astonishing comebacks on back-to-back nights in the semifinal second legs by Liverpool against Barcelona and Tottenham at Ajax.

There have been no new reported injury issues for the second leg, with Serge Gnabry and Raphael Guerreiro both previously ruled out through thigh and hamstring injuries, respectively.

Teenage star Lennart Karl may have recovered enough from a torn thigh muscle to feature at some point.

Neuer (goalkeeper); Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Davies; Kimmich, Pavlovic; Olise, Musiala, Diaz; Kane

In a major blow to the Parisians, key right-back Achraf Hakimi suffered a hamstring injury in the first leg, which is set to keep him out of action for several weeks. Warren Zaire-Emery is set to fill in for the Moroccan.

PSG will also be without second-choice goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier due to a hand injury.

But aside from these two absentees, Luis Enrique appears to have a full squad to choose from.

Safonov (goalkeeping); Zaire-Emery, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Ruiz, Vitinha, Neves; Doue, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/5/5/bayern-munich-vs-psg-champions-league-preview-team-news-start?traffic_source=rss

உலகம்

Taiwan has ‘right to engage with the world’ after Eswatini visit

Published

on

Taiwan has ‘right to engage with the world’ after Eswatini visit

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-Te says Taipei has a ‘right to engage with the world’ after a contested visit to its only African ally, Eswatini. Taiwan accuses China of trying to block the trip.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/5/5/taiwan-has-right-to-engage-with-the-world-after-eswatini-visit?traffic_source=rss

Continue Reading

உலகம்

Russian air attacks kill five at Ukraine’s Naftogaz gas facilities

Published

on

Three workers and two emergency service rescuers ​killed and 37 others wounded, Naftogaz CEO Serhiy ​Koretskyi says.

At least five people have been killed in Russian air strikes on Ukrainian state-run gas facilities in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions, officials said, a day after Kyiv and Moscow announced unilateral ceasefires to take effect later this week.

Three employees and two rescue workers were killed and 37 people were wounded in the overnight missile and drone barrage, Serhiy Koretskyi, the CEO of Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz said on Tuesday.

“We have sustained significant damage and production losses. This was a combined strike involving UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and ballistic missiles,” said Koretskyi.

He added that the attack cut gas supply to nearly 3,500 customers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian authorities had shown “utter cynicism” by announcing a ceasefire and then launching missile and drone attacks on his country.

“Russia could cease fire at any moment, and this would stop the war and our responses. Peace is needed, and real steps are needed to achieve it. Ukraine will act in kind,” he said on X.

A day earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a two-day ceasefire in the war with Ukraine on May 8 and 9 to mark Russia’s World War II victory. Zelenskyy countered with his proposed pause in fighting starting on the night of May 5.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched 11 ballistic missiles and 164 drones at the country since 6pm (15:00 GMT) on Monday. One missile and 149 drones were shot down or neutralised, it said, but eight missiles and 14 drones struck 14 locations.

Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Audrey Macalpine said Russian missile attacks were posing a challenge for Ukraine.

“Ukraine has become accustomed to intercepting drones regularly, but it still lacks sufficient means to intercept, especially ballistic missiles, which is why you hear Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy so often pleading with his European partners for more air defence, for things like Patriots, because they are the only weapons that are capable of intercepting ballistic threats,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine attacked one of Russia’s biggest oil refineries on Tuesday, sparking a fire in an industrial area of the Russian town of Kirishi in the Leningrad region, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said.

“The enemy’s main target was the [Kirishinefteorgsintez] oil refinery,” Drozdenko said, adding that there were no casualties as a result of the attack.

The fire was contained, and firefighting operations were nearing completion, he said.

According to industry sources, the Kirishinefteorgsintez oil refinery, one of the largest in the country, processed 17.5 million metric tonnes of oil (350,000 barrels per day) in 2024, which amounted to 6.6 percent of Russia’s total oil refining volumes.

It produced 2 million tonnes of petrol, 7.1 million tonnes of diesel, 6.1 million tonnes of fuel oil and 600,000 tonnes of bitumen.

The Russian Ministry of Defence said its air defence forces destroyed 289 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions overnight.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/5/russian-attack-kills-five-at-ukraines-naftogaz-gas-facility?traffic_source=rss

Continue Reading

உலகம்

Macron sings as Armenia’s leader drums in unusual moment at state dinner

Published

on

Macron sings as Armenia’s leader drums in unusual moment at state dinner

French President Emmanuel Macron sang ‘La Boheme’ accompanied by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the drums during a state dinner in Yerevan. EU leaders are there for the first ever bilateral summit with Armenia, a traditional Russian ally.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/5/5/macron-sings-as-armenias-leader-drums-in-unusual-moment-at-state-dinner?traffic_source=rss

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 by 7Tamil Media, All rights reserved.