It has been a rough start to the new league campaign for the two teams. Paris Saint Germain are not particularly there yet but are making progress as the games pass. On Milan’s part, the season has also been topsy-turvy for them.
PSG kicked off their season post Lionel Messi and Neymar at the Parc des Princes against Lorient. New signings Goncalo Ramos, Kang-In Lee, Manuel Ugarte, and Marco Asensio made their debut, but that did not light up the match as it finished goalless.
Following that opening day disappointment, the match day two trip to Toulouse also finished in a draw. Star forward Kylian Mbappe scored from the spot – PSG’s first goal of the season – shortly after coming on as a substitute for Lee.
Just before the international break, Luis Enrique’s side soon found a way past a couple of title challengers – Lens at home and at Lyon. Mbappe scored twice against Lens, while Asensio also scored his first goal in French football since leaving Real Madrid.
PSG exploded in the first half at troubled Lyon, and the second was just a formality. Mbappe, as usual, was among the goalscorers once again. Asensio and Achraf Hakimi completed the route.
Upon resumption of club league football, the poor signs came into play again; Paris Saint Germain suffered their first defeat of the season as Nice edged them 3-2 at home.
As seen in most of Enrique’s teams, the French champions dominated, but they could not find a way past the visitors who were inspired in attack by Terem Moffi, as usual. Mbappe got both goals for the French Champions, but it was not enough.
Meanwhile, that defeat did not stop PSG from inflicting the first defeat of the season on Borussia Dortmund in their Champions League opener.
Mbappe scored once more while Hakimi danced past a number of BVB defenders before slotting calmly into the bottom corner just before the hour mark to cap off a solid second-half performance in front of their home support.
AC Milan, who, just like PSG, had an active summer transfer window, made a fine start to their Serie A season. The Rossoneri kicked off the season with a comfortable 2-0 win over Bologna. Veteran striker Olivier Giroud played a part in both goals.
The former Arsenal man scored the opening goal before setting up Christian Pulisic for his side’s second goal in a fine first-half performance.
And in their first game of the season at San Siro, Giroud was at it again, scoring a brace, while Theo Hernandez and Christian Pulisic scored the other goals in a 4-1 comfortable win over Torino.
A statement result came for Stefan Pioli and Milan just before the international break when they defeated AS Roma 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico. Giroud scored for the consecutive game as Milan held on for another crucial win ahead of the Milan derby.
Sadly, it was a whitewash for them at the hands of their City rivals and a game most AC Milan fans would like to forget in a hurry. In their UEFA Champions League opener against Newcastle, the game finished goalless.
Pioli soon found the magic touch as his side racked up two consecutive wins against Verona and Empoli.
As of the time of writing, Enrique, who won the UEFA Champions League with Barcelona eight years ago, has won more than 70% of his games as a manager in this competition (25/34), the highest win percentage of any coach with 20+ games in the competition.
PSG have not beaten AC Milan before in this competition, but this could end if the French side can find their top level in this game. Additionally, PSG does not have any UEFA title to their name, while Milan have seven.
PSG lost to Bayern Munich in the final a few years ago, while Milan was thoroughly beaten by Inter in the semifinals last season.
These two teams have an outside chance of winning the title this season, but this is a group of death with many games left to decide who will be playing in the next round of the competition.
Match Tickets
The match at Parc des Princes in Paris kicks off on Wednesday, 25th September, at 8 PM UK time, and it will be shown live on TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport), with coverage starting from around 7 PM.
It is the UEFA Champions League, and one of the night’s games is set to be played at the magnificent 47,929-capacity stadium. Les Parisiens would be out in their numbers to support their side, while it is expected that Milan faithful will also have a good number of their supporters at the venue.
So, getting tickets for Paris Saint Germain vs AC Milan tickets could be difficult to get. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team News
Line-ups
Enrique is slowly finding the right combinations, and his team could do great things this season. If Kylian Mbappe is fit again, he is expected to start, while Kolo Muani could be given a chance. Meanwhile, Marco Asensio, Kang-in Lee, Juan Bernat, Nuno Mendes, and Presnel Kimpembe have respective injuries.
- PSG: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Pereira, Skriniar, Hernandez; Zaire-Emery, Ugarte, Vitinha; Mbappe, Kolo Muani, Dembele.
The Italians play a 4-3-3 formation, with Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic starting on either side of Olivier Giroud. A winning team might not witness a whole lot of changes.
By that, Samuel Chukwueze and Noah Okafor might have to settle for places on the bench again. Pierre Kalulu and Ismael Bennacer have injury concerns but could be back before this game.
- AC Milan: Maignan; Calabria, Thiaw, Tomori, Hernandez; Loftus-Cheek, Krunic, Reijnders; Pulisic, Giroud, Leao.
Prediction
PSG stopped Dortmund from scoring at this venue in their Champions League opener, and they will need to devise a similar strategy to stop Leao and the rest of the Milan attack.
Their last competitive meeting in the competition came in the 2000/01 season, and both ties finished in 1-1 stalemates. Meanwhile, PSG are unbeaten in their last nine home Champions League group stage games, winning eight.
In terms of the potential goalscorers, Kylian Mbappé is PSG’s all-time goal scorer in this competition and has proved beyond reasonable doubt he has been made nights like this.
- Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 AC Milan
