SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Projected Atalanta starting XI: Sportiello; Palomino, Caldara, Djimsiti; Gosens, Freuler, de Roon, Hateboer; Pasalic, Zapata, Gomez (C)
Projected PSG starting XI: Navas; Kehrer, Thiago Silva (C), Kimpembe, Bernat; Herrera, Marquinhos, Gueye; Sarabia, Icardi, Neymar
Four months after the coronavirus pandemic delayed the UEFA Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain and Atalanta FC kick off the quarterfinals on Wednesday, August 12 (Thursday, August 13, 3 am, Philippine time) at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal. (WATCH: Champions League best moments)
Atalanta, the highest scoring team in Serie A with 98 goals, face off against a Ligue-1 winning PSG side that was on pace for 105 goals before the season was abruptly canceled last April.
On the final gameday of the Serie A season, Atalanta had an opportunity to finish 2nd in the league but got shut out by Inter Milan, 2-0, in a performance that was uncharacteristic for such a potent attacking side.
Atalanta will be left to fill the huge void left by Josep Ilicic, who will miss the tie due to personal reasons. In the second leg of the Italian team’s round of 16 tie against Valencia, Ilicic scored 4 goals to secure the team’s place in the quarterfinals.
Atalanta will also be missing its first keeper Pierluigi Gollini after he sustained a major knee injury in its previous game against Inter that would sideline him for a minimum of two months.
Despite the injuries to two of its most crucial players, Atalanta hopes to extend its Cinderella run by making it to the semifinals in its first ever appearance in the Champions League.
Meanwhile, the French side has a history of coming up short during the quarterfinals of this competition, losing 4 straight ties from 2013 to 2016.
From 2017 to 2019, PSG was stopped at the round of 16, most notably in the embarrassing 3-1 defeat it suffered against Manchester United on home ground last year.
France’s top football team was knocked out of the competition via the away goals rule.
Thankfully for PSG fans, the team was barely scraped by in its round of 16 draw against Borussia Dortmund, winning the second leg, 2-1, to move past the German side, 3-2, on aggregate.
Neymar scored on both legs against Dortmund and he will look to replicate his crucial goal scoring to push a Paris side that hasn’t been to the semifinals of the Europe’s top flight league since 1995.
The club’s supporters would also be ecstatic to see star forward Kylian Mbappe return off the bench after the ankle injury he sustained in the 1-0 win against Saint Etienne in the Coupe de France final.
His pace and attacking prowess were missed in PSG’s goalless victory (6-5 on penalties) against Lyon in the Coupe de la Ligue final.
The two clubs’ preference to play attacking football could lead to a tense end-to-end affair with potentially a lot of goals coming on either end.
But if Neymar continues his goal scoring form and Mbappe returns to full fitness, PSG will have more than enough quality for Atalanta to handle, especially as it looks to redeem its previous Champions League failures.
Due to the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals will have a different look than in previous years.
The quarters and semifinals of the competition will be played in a single-leg tie in neutral grounds, unlike the home-and-away, two-leg tie in previous years. – Jedd Pagaduan/Rappler.com
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