Neymar, Mbappe, Cavani – they are the names on everyone’s lips ahead of FC Bayern’s champions League clash at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday evening. One of these three PSG forwards will come up against Joshua Kimmich, and the right-back can hardly wait to face Brazilian star Neymar. “I’m looking forward to it,” Kimmich said, pretty sure that it will be him he has to face. “Neymar is one of the best players in the world one-on-one.”
However, Kimmich has every reason to go into the game with his chest pumped. He has started all nine of Bayern’s competitive games this season, seemingly plugging the gap left by Philipp Lahm’s retirement without any trouble at all. Carlo Ancelotti is not surprised by this: “He’s really good in defence and fantastic in attack,” the FCB head coach said. Kimmich is now on the verge of likely the toughest task of his career as a right-back when he comes up against Neymar.
“It’s for games like this that you train every day. It’s why you become a footballer, so you can play against the best in the Champions League,” Kimmich said. The location of the game should also get him excited because it was at the Parc des Princes that Germany coach Joachim Löw first deployed him at right-back in a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland on his European Championship debut 15 months ago (21 June 2016).
Topics of this article