Paris Saint-Germain will begin their UEFA Champions League (UCL) campaign this Tuesday with a visit from Serie A giants Juventus.
Venue: Parc des Princes (Paris)
Key Statistics
Paris Saint-Germain have failed to win their opening game in three of the last four UCL editions (D1, L2).
The hosts are unbeaten in their last 16 competitive games (W12, D4).
They have scored 3+ goals in six of their last seven games.
They have kept two clean sheets in their last two games.
Juventus are unbeaten in their last five competitive games (W2, D3).
They are winless in their last four away games (D2, L2).
But they are unbeaten in ten of their last 13 away trips in the UCL (W7, D3).
Juventus scored at least twice in their last four UCL opening away group games (W3, D1).
Head to head
Juventus are unbeaten in this fixture having won six out of the eight times they have faced PSG (D2).
Latest performances in all competition
PSG: W-W-D-W-W
Juventus: D-W-D-D-W
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain will look to continue their impressive start to the new season when they welcome Juventus to Parc des Princes.
The hosts have enjoyed a blistering start to the new season winning six of their opening seven games of the campaign (D1) while scoring 28 times and conceding just four goals.
Their game against Maximiliano Allegri’s side is arguably the pick of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) opening round with both teams looking to end years of hurt in the competition. The Parisians are looking to win the trophy for the first time in their history and will hope they can start their quest for the trophy with a moral-boosting win
However, their record against Italian teams could pose an inhibition. Christophe Galtier’s side lost nine times in 21 meetings against Italian teams (W3, D9) while they have also failed to win against Juventus in nine previous attempts (W6, D3).
But with the front three of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe all on song this season, the hosts will go into this tie confident of getting a good result. Their home form will also be a source of encouragement, given that they have only lost on this ground once since early last season.
Possible PSG starting line-up
Gianluigi Donnarumma; Danilo Pereira, Sergio Ramos, Marquinhos; Achraf Hakimi, Vitinha, Marco Verratti, Nuno Mendes; Lionel Messi; Kylian Mbappe, Neymar.
Injured: Pablo Sarabia, Presnel Kimpembe
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Juventus
Juventus will travel to Paris looking to kick-start their European season with a win.
The Old Lady have had a stop-start campaign so far. After beginning their season with a 3-0 win against Sassuolo, they drew their next two games (0-0 against Sampdoria and 1-1 against Roma) leaving them trailing Napoli in the title race.
While they have struggled to truly get their season off the ground, they do remain unbeaten in Serie A (W2, D3), a considerable improvement over the four-game winless run they ended last season with.
But in the group stage of the UCL proper, Allegri’s side are unbeaten in ten of their last 13 away trips (W7, D3), but one of the only two occasions in which they failed to score during that run was on French turf, in Lyon.
Regardless of current form and negative stats, the Old Lady will travel to Paris confident of getting a result.
Possible Juventus starting line-up
Wojciech Szczesny; Danilo, Federico Gatti, Daniele Rugani, Mattia De Sciglio; Denis Zakaria, Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli; Juan Cuadrado, Dusan Vlahovic, Filip Kostic.
Injured: Daouda Peeters, Marley Ake, Paul Pogba, Federico Chiesa, Kaio Jorge
Doubtful: Ángel di María, Ante Rabiot, Wojciech Szczesny
Suspended: None
Prediction
Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 Juventus
