LISBONNE, Portugal (AP) – The similarities between Paris Saint-Germain and Leipzig end with the two clubs looking to qualify for the Champions League final for the first time.
The French force reaches Tuesday’s semi-finals with their Qatari cash and the most sensible team, while the German club arrives with their Red Bull and a team of untested players usually.
At Benfica’s Stadium of Light, Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and their teammates will be in front of a Leipzig team with little joy in the Champions League.
Leipzig almost has things to lose. For the PSG, anything called will be a sadness for a club where precedence has been to break with the European name after years of dominance in France.
The PSG has a European competitor under its Qatari owners, but Leipzig is beginning to make its mark in Europe under the energy drink company Red Bull, which in 2009 bought the license rights of the fifth-tier SSV Markranstaedt and financed the normal promotion. of the new team. in the lower leagues.
Leipzig reached the Bundesliga in 2016 and the Champions League a few years later, but has become very unpopular at home due to its immediate rise funded through Red Bull, prompting enthusiastic rivals to protest during matches.
At the time of appearance in the Champions League, the German club eliminated Tottenham in the 16th and Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals. PSG, led by German coach Thomas Tuchel, beat Borussia Dortmund in 16 and Atalanta in the quarter-finals.
The PSG reached the semi-finals with the feeling that, despite everything, this will be the moment when it succeeds in Europe.
“We have a very competent team,” said Zaguero Marquinhos, who scored one of the goals opposed to Atalanta. “Not only first-team players, but right now, our team is much more powerful than in past seasons.”
PSG has been eliminated in the last 3 seasons, and in quarter-finals four times in a row before that. His last semi-final appearance 25 years ago, when he lost to AC Milan.
“I think everyone can see after the match against Borussia Dortmund that something special had happened,” PSG midfielder Ander Herrera said. “Everyone needs the same thing and they’re going in the same direction.”
PSG will again be led by Neymar, sponsored by Red Bull, who has been hired to help the club take the plunge and claim the European title. On Tuesday you are expected to get the full one from Mbappé and Angel Di Maria. Mbappé was unable to play the entire match behind Atalanta as he came from injury, while Di María was sanctioned.
Goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who had to be replaced against Atalanta with a right leg muscle injury, is questionable. Veteran defenseman Thiago Silva is expected to play after tests showed only a slight tear in the right hamstring.
It is not clear that American Tyler Adams, who scored the goal of Leipzig’s win at Atletico Madrid, will be on the bench or be part of Julian Nagelsmann’s starting line-up.
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