Have we used the el Cashico joke too often?
No, no we haven't
It’s not El Cashico on Wednesday evening. The games in France. So it’s le Cashico
In all seriousness, alongside the Barca and Atletico game, this is the interesting match up in the Champions League clubs between two teams that have done pretty well domestically, but fail to prove themselves in Europe. PSG have stormed to the French title yet again. They’ve renamed it the Championnat, maybe to reflect the Champions League. In which case, the Premier League should be renamed the Semifinaleague.
PSG top every table in France. Attack, defense, home, away, overall and wins. But they’ve lost twice in their last six, which is unusual.
What wasn’t unusual was Zlatan Ibrahimovic eating defences for breakfast, doing so again at the weekend against Nice. A hat-trick brought up Ibra’s 30th league goal of the season from just 18 appearances. The Parisians record isn’t the best when it comes to English sides though. Apart from a couple of victories against Chelsea, PSG have a losing record when it comes to teams from the best league in the world.
Despite blowing the Premier League challenge again and installing a new manager, Man City still have a chance of creating history and winning the Champions League. Kevin De Bruyne made an instant impact on his return at the weekend. Three out of four shots on target, a goal and a man of the match performance. City were dominant against Bournemouth, but have never got this far in the Champions League before. Manuel Pellegrini is leaving in a few weeks so what better way to say goodbye?
The stats don’t lie
- These two have only met once before. It as in the 2008 UEFA Cup and City had Darius Vassell, Jo, and some young gun called Joe Hart playing
- Both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sergio Aguero are leaving their respective clubs at the end of their contracts fueling talks of a swap deal
- PSG have the second best defence in Europe, conceding just 15 goals
- Man City’s 538 attempts at goal is the fourth highest of the top 5 leagues (behind Spurs, Bayern and Real Madrid)
Both like to go forward, particularly PSG when they are at home. I can’t see Pellegrini being content with a clean sheet in 0-0 so both teams will score at odds of. But if I was betting, I’d be going for a 1-1 draw at odds of. A result which might suit both managers.
Full match betting here