Europe Champions League Round 5

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Bayern Munich vs Paris Saint-Germain Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Bayern Munich:
Neuer; Laimer, Upamecano, Kim, Davies; Kimmich, Goretzka; Olise, Musiala, Gnabry; Kane

Paris Saint-Germain:
Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Zaire-Emery, Vitinha, Neves; Dembele, Asensio, Barcola

Bayern Munich will welcome Paris Saint-Germain to Allianz Arena in one of the most interesting UEFA Champions League fifth round's fixtures. Both coaches are under pressure to pick up a positive result here. Bayern are down in 17th spot in the Champions League table, picking up six points from the maximal 12. The Bavarians started the campaign in fantastic way, beating Dinamo Zagreb with high 9:2. However, the next two matches were not successful and Bayern suffered two painful defeats. Both matches were away from home, but that shouldn't be an excuse. Vincent Kompany's side have lost 1:0 to Aston Villa in England and lost 4:1 to Barcelona in Spain. In the last round Bayern registered a narrow, but very important victory against Benfica Lisbon. Musiala was the hero as he scored the lone goal in the 67th minute. The domestic form is good and Bayern are in series of five victories in Bundesliga. Furthermore, the Bavarians have scored 16 goals in the process and recorded five clean sheets. Kompany has five injury worries, with Joao Palhinha as most notable absence. Three additional players - Mathys Tel, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Josip Stanisic - are rated as doubtful and should be assessed on Tuesday. Finally, Hiroki Ito remains a long-term absentee.

Paris Saint-Germain have collect just four points from their opening four games and sit on the 25th place. They started the Champions League campaign with a lucky victory against Spanish minnows Girona, but that's their only victory so far. The Parisians lost 2:1 to Atletico Madrid in the fourth round, while previously also suffered defeat to Arsenal and shared the points with Dutch side PSV. Paris Saint-Germain are the leaders in Ligue 1 with 32 points. They have six more than Monaco and they are main favorites for the title. The problem is Arab owners are no more satisfied with domestic trophies. Nasser Al-Khelaifi is desperate to win the Champions League as he spent enormous money in new players. Coach Luis Enrique is under big pressure as PSG have won just one of the four matches in Europe. The problem is connect with the attack. Paris Saint-Germain have scored just three goals on four matches in the Champions League. Even worse, one of them (against Girona) was an own-goal. Coach Enrique must improve the efficiency as soon as possible. Bradley Barcola has been in outstanding form for PSG this season, scoring 10 times in 16 appearances in Ligue 1, but he is yet to find the back of the net in Europe. Enrique has injury worries, too. Senny Mayulu, Lucas Hernandez, Goncalo Ramos and Presnel Kimpembe will miss the match, while Nuno Mendes, who was absent on Friday due to an ankle injury, is rated as doubtful.

Bayern Munich vs Paris Saint-Germain Prediction:

Bayern will look to continue their strong home form in Europa. The Bavarians have won 22 of their last 27 home Champions League fixtures. Their last European defeat on home soil came during the 2020-21 campaign. Interesting, the opponents were exactly PSG. However, it was a different PSG. The current are without top players like Mbappe, Messi and Neymar. Now Bayern have a player able to make a difference - Harry Kane. He scored a hat trick against Augsburg on Friday to make it 20 goals in 17 appearances during the 2024-25 campaign, including five goals in four outings in the Champions League.

Bayern Munich vs Paris Saint-Germain Pick: Bayern Munich to win @ 1.56 with Pinnacle

 

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Liverpool vs Real Madrid Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Liverpool:
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Luis Diaz; Nunez

Real Madrid:
Courtois; Valverde, Asencio, Rudiger, Mendy; Camavinga, Modric; Guler, Bellingham, Brahim Diaz; Mbappe

The Champions League leaders Liverpool will welcome the reigning trophy holders Real Madrid to Anfield on Wednesday evening. This is another episode of the blockbuster in which Real are dominating in the last decade. Los Blancos are nightmare for Liverpool fans and this is an ideal timing for a revenge. The Reds are the only club in the competition with a perfect record after four rounds. Arne Slot's side are also first in the Premier League and the players confidence is "High as Everest". During the weekend they beat Southampton 3:2. The bottom-placed side produced an inspiring performances and they came from behind to secure a 2:1 lead in the second half. But Liverpool players refused to give up and scored twice in the finish of the match through Mohamed Salah. Liverpool now have eight points more than second-placed Manchester City and many fans start dreaming about the title. But Slot is asking the players to stay fully focused as now is "only" November. The injury situation remain the same - Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota, Federico Chiesa and Trent Alexander-Arnold are still struggling with injuries. According to the latest news, Real target Alexander-Arnold is the only one who might be ready in time for this match. Harvey Elliott has recovered from a foot fracture, but he will start from the bench.

Real Madrid have suffered two defeats in the Champions League and the atmosphere in the squad is far from ideal. They are the best club in the history of the competition and defeats from Lille and Milan were big surprises. Another failure could affect their chances for progress. If something could be rated as positive, that's the domestic form. Real have won their last two La Liga matches, scoring seven goals in the process. They beat 4:0 Osasuna before the international break and won 3:0 against Leganes during the weekend, moving to within four points of a stuttering Barcelona at the top of the rankings. But there is another problem - coach Carlo Ancelotti has several injury issues ahead of the trip to Anfield. Key player Vinicius Junior is sidelined through injury and that's a huge handicap. The Brazil international has sustained a hamstring injury in his left leg and medical tests carried out on Monday have determined the extent of the damage. According to the Spanish media, Vini is likely to be sidelined for up to three weeks. His absence is a huge handicap, Vinicius is simply irreplaceable. Rodrygo is also out injured and he is not expected to be back from the muscular injury he sustained against Osasuna two weeks ago. Aurelien Tchouameni and Lucas Vazquez are rated as doubtful due to ankle and muscle injury respectively. Finally, David Alaba, Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao are long-term injury victims.

Liverpool vs Real Madrid Prediction:

Liverpool started the season in fantastic way. They are first in the Premier League, but they are also first in the Champions League. The Reds have a perfect record In Europe with four victories in the first four rounds, including a 4:0 home win against Bayer Leverkusen in the previous round. However, the last match showed some weaknesses. On Sunday Liverpool beat Southampton 3:2 at St Mary's. There was lot of confusion in Liverpool defense and individual mistakes from the centre-back duo Van Dijk and Konate. Real Madrid, meanwhile, are scoring and conceding lot of goals in the Champions League. Three of their four matches have produced Over 3.5 goals. Real won 3:1 against Stuttgart and 5:2 against Borussia Dortmund, while lost 3:1 to Milan. I expect a high scoring encounter here.

Liverpool vs Real Madrid Pick: Over 3.5 goals @ 2.36 with Pinnacle