Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid are set for a thrilling round of 16 Champions League encounter on Tuesday (February 15).
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The Champions League first leg Round of 16 encounter between Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid is a match many are excited for. And why wouldn’t fans be up for this?
It’s PSG and Real Madrid, two of the top teams in Europe right now. And they’re clashing in the earliest stage of the knockout rounds.
Both teams are on top of the league, although neither are at their imperious best right now. PSG are a side that blow hot and cold; for all their individual brilliance, there’s little in the way of cohesiveness.
There’s also the fact many feel their expensive forward line is not suited to modern-day football. The game, in today’s day and age, is about work-rate as much as it is skill.
When Paris & Madrid met in 2017/18 ?
Who will make the difference in 2022? ?♂️#UCL pic.twitter.com/rzpYZI81PU
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 15, 2022
However, the forward trio of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar bring plenty of artistry and end product. Work-rate? Not so much.
Real, on the other hand, are a side very much in transition themselves. They are, much like last season, still reliant on a brilliant but ageing squad to deliver the goods.
Thankfully for them, they have Karim Benzema in the finest goal-scoring form of his career as well as Vinicius Jr. And in Carlo Ancelotti, a manager who is adept at working with elite talent.
Yet one can’t help but feel like there’s more at play than just the two legs of football set to take place in Europe’s elite cup competition.
For one, there’s the obvious elephant in the room – Kylian Mbappe. It’s arguably the worst secret in modern football that he is being courted by Real. It’s also well-known that he’s interested in the move.
That’s why he has refused to sign a new contract with the Parisiens; he will run it down and, in this summer, most likely join Madrid on a free.
Some have likened it to an audition, but Mbappe is a World Cup winner and widely touted as a star already. More than an audition, it will be a case of where his head is at.
Mbappe has been impervious to PSG’s ups and downs in form this season. It’s no secret the Paris side have not quite been the same force they were, and this is despite the signing of Lionel Messi.
Messi’s performances have perhaps not been as bad as many might like to make it seem like, but he’s part of the problem at this point. That being said, he’s rescued the side in Europe; and the onus will be on him to be at his best again.
There’s also the fact that Sergio Ramos, a Real Madrid legend by all accounts, will square up against his old side for the first time. Ramos, like Messi, left in the summer when his contract was not extended.
None of this matters in the larger context of the game, of course. The match will be won by the team that runs better, plays better and takes their chances better.
But that doesn’t mean all eyes won’t be on Messi, Mbappe and Ramos when the match begins – and ends.
