Corentin Tolisso never wants to take off his Lederhosen: “It was a little strange at first wearing Tracht. But I've got used to it now, and I'd like to wear it as often as possible,” laughed the Frenchman, a summer arrival at FC Bayern. And it would certainly make an excellent photo: Tolisso travelling to the Champions League away game in Paris, wearing Lederhosen...
Admittedly, it's rather unlikely. Nevertheless, the 23 year-old wants to fly the Bavarian flag on Wednesday evening at the Parc des Princes. Before heading back to his homeland for the first time with FC Bayern, Tolisso insisted: “We're going to Paris in order to win.” The French national team player is aware of the tough task ahead: “Paris will be very motivated. It's going to be a big game.”
Tolisso has taken up an allocation of six tickets for the match. “I’m not from Paris, I’m from Lyon, so I won’t have that many acquaintances at the stadium. My father, mother and sister have to work, but I’ll have a few friends there,” the midfielder revealed. In fact, PSG are the team Tolisso has faced the greatest number of times over his career (11 matches, 1 victory, 2 draws, 8 defeats).
Kingsley Coman will have his own supporters in the stadium as well, most notably his parents. As a PSG fan, Coman's father is understandably torn between the two sides. Even the Bayern player himself speaks of Paris Saint-Germain as “the club closest to [his] heart.” He regularly watches the Parisian team's matches on TV.
But he didn't just inherit this connection from his father. At nine years old, Coman joined the club’s youth academy in the French capital. He wore a PSG shirt for a total of nine years, making his professional debut in February 2013. Playing at the Parc des Princes has always been one of Coman's ambitions: “As a child, I used to dream about it.”
'Once I step onto the pitch, the friendship stops'
But this dream has never become reality for Coman, until now. “I'm even happier to be coming back here with Bayern,” said Coman, who made a total of four appearances for the Parisian first team during his time there. He even shared an apartment with PSG defender Presnel Kimpembe for a year. “I did the cooking, and he did the housework,” Coman explained. “Presnel is like a brother to me. But once I step on the pitch on Wednesday, the friendship stops.”
According to Coman, Paris Saint-Germain are “a very complete team,” but “their trump card is their attack. We’ll have to be really focused and defend together as a team if we’re to stop them.”
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