French champions. Cup winners. Champions League winners. A tough challenge awaits FC Bayern in the Club World Cup quarter-final match against Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday (18:00 CEST, 12:00 local time). “Of course Paris are a superb team,” Dayot Upamecano commented on his compatriots: “But I don’t know if they really are the world’s best team.”
The fact is that the German record champions beat PSG 1-0 in their last match. Aleksandar Pavlović said: “We’ve watched a few situations of the match.” The head coach demands Bayern believe in their own strength. “He told us to stick to our play and that we must give it more than 100 percent – and that’s how we’ll approach it tomorrow,” commented the 21-year-old.
Air-conditioned, compact, uncompromising
For the first time at the Club World Cup, FC Bayern won’t play in bright sunshine – but at Atlanta’s modern and fully air-conditioned stadium. An advantage for high-intensity teams, according to Joshua Kimmich: “I think two teams who play very intense football profit from better conditions.” Pavlović agreed: It’s good for us and for Paris – everything’s set for us to hit the gas.”
For Kimmich, duels with PSG are always special – not least because of the 2020 Champions League final: “I’ve had the highlight of my career so far against them.” Upamecano knows many PSG pros from the French national team. “But I’ll have no friends tomorrow – I just want to win and progress.”
Bayern need to be more solid at the back to achieve that. “We can’t score four goals in every match,” said Kimmich. Bayern were efficient against Flamengo, but “we must concede fewer goals – that’s the crux, I think.”
Two teams, one style – and one goal
Paris’s play is similar to Bayern’s: they’re strong in defence and very dangerous at turnovers. “They attack together, they defend together. We’re very similar in that respect,” said Kimmich. Which means the match will be at a top level – “for the neutral too.”
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PSG have taken a very good development since their 1-0 defeat in Munich back in November. Luis Enrique’s team moved on after a weak start to the season and are full of confidence as treble winners. But FC Bayern too are ready – not only because of their form but also their self-image. Dayot Upamecano put it in a nutshell: “We’ll win against PSG.”
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