Key events
36 min: That substitution has prompted a positional switch for Bayern, with Boey playing on the right side of their defence and Konrad Laimer moving across to the left.
33 min: Bayern Munich substitution: Still suffering the effects of the injury he suffered earlier, Josip Stanisic goes off and is replaced by Sacha Boey. The French sub doersn;t hang about, getting down the right to overhit a cross towards the far post.
30 min: Kvaratskhelia picks up the ball on the left wing and embarks on a run that takes him to within about two yard of the goal-line. He had too much speed for Upamecano and took a shot that was saved by Neuer’s leg. The Georgian was unable to beat the Bayern goalkeeper with his follow-up from close range either.
26 min: After excellent work by Kane and Musiala to work the ball out wide, Michael Olise brings a fine save out of Donnarumma with a shot that was heading for the top corner. The Italian was at full stretch and stopped the ball with a strong right hand.
25 min: From deep, Dayo Upamecano plays an up-and-under in behind the Bayern Munich defence. None of his teammates were expecting him to do so and the ball bounces safely into the hands of Donnarumma.
22 min: Fabian Ruiz fires a very presentable chance high over the bar from 18 yards after excellent work from Fabian Ruiz, Desire Doue and Kvaratskhelia.
20 min: There’s a break in play as Bayern full-back Josip Stanisic receives treatment for an injury.
19 min: PSG break at speed, with Hakimi sprinting at speed into space on the inside right. He curls a low ball across the face of the Bayern goal but the angle at the far post is too tight for Kvaratskhelia. Side-netting.
18 min: A promising Bayern Munich attack breaks down when Coman tries to dribble past Marquinhos, only to be robbed of possession by the PSG skipper.
16 min: A Konrad Leimar cross into the PSG penalty area is met by Harry Kane, who is unable to get much power or direction on his header.
15 min: Bayern Munich corner. Michael Olise plays an inswinger to the back post, where Donnarumma is blatantly blocked by Upamecano as he attempts to leap for the ball. He wins a free-kick.
13 min: Manuel Neuer plays a free-kick on the halfway line long and wide to Kingsley Coman on the left touchline. The Bayern winger is unable to prevent the ball going out of play for a throw-in.
9 min: Achraf Hakimi cuts inside and plays the ball inside to Fabian Ruiz, only for PSG to lose it. Bayern Munich counter upfield with Michael Olise on the ball. This game is being played at a fair old clip early doors.
9 min: With three of his teammates queuing up to get on the end of his cross from the right, Konrad Laimer slices what looks like a shot from a tight angle high over the bar. Harry Kane gives him the stink-eye.
7 min: Bayern try a free-kick from the training ground that possibly should have stayed there. Olise rolled the ball forward so Joshua Kimmich could square it from the right but his cross was poor and failed to beat the first man.
6 min: Michael Olise tests PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma with a low effort from outside the penalty area that doesn’t trouble the big Italian unduly.
4 min: It was Kvicha Kvaratskhelia who caught Olise napping, sneaking in on the Bayern Munich man’s blind side to steal the ball and play it into the path of Doue.
3 min: Desire Doue sends a shot from the edge of the area fizzing wide of the left upright after Michael Olise had his pocket picked just outside his own penalty area and lost the ball. It’s a let-off for the German champions.
2 min: Both sides are wearing their usual colours, with PSG in navy blue kit and the players of Bayern in red shirts, shorts and socks.
PSG v Bayern Munich is go …
1 min: Following a moment’s silence for Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who were laid to rest in Portugal today, PSG get the ball rolling. Well, not so much rolling as airborne, booting a long diagonal high up the field into touch so they can get their intensive pressing game started as Bayern take their first throw-in of the game.
Old man yells at cloud: I’ve never been to a monster truck rally but given the razmatazz, noise, light show, loud music and number of braying Americans in the stands of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, I suspect it wouldn’t be entirely dissimilar to what’s going on before this game.
Not long now: Well, it may be a while, given Fifa’s inadvisable Club World Cup wheeze of introducing the players one by one instead of having the teams walk out side by side in the traditional gladatorial style. Marquinhos, last of the PSG players, has just made his way out on to the pitch and now it’s time for Bayern’s players to make their grand entrances.
The stadium: The roof of the Mercedes-Benz stadium is closed, the air-con is switched on and in his pre-match interview, Vincent Kompany tells DAZN that “this is the first time in this tournament I’ve done a pre-match interview where I’m not already sweating”.
Those teams: Luis Enrique sends out the same PSG side that started against Inter Miami last weekend. Ousmane Dembele remains on the bench after coming on as sub in that 4-0 win for his first appearance of the tournament.
Vincent Kompany makes two changes to the side that started against Flamengo in the last 16. Jamal Musiala and Aleksandar Pavlovic come in for Serge Gnabry and Leon Goretzka.
PSG: The European champions are enjoying themselves under Luis Enrique, a world away from their last game against Bayern Munich, whose manager Vincent Kompany could scarcely have been more complimentary about his opposite number in the build-up to today’s game. Words: Sid Lowe in Atlanta.
Match preview
These European heavyweights met 7,000 miles away in November, when Bayern Munich prevailed courtesy of a Kim Min-jae goal at the Allianz Arena in the Champions League group stage.Luis Enrique’s position appeared to be under serious threat because at the time it was a defeat that left PSG in grave danger of making an ignominious and early exit from a competition they would eventually go on to win in fine style.
While PSG may be the European champions, their recent record against Bayern is not good. The French side have lost each of their past four matches against the German champions, failing to score in any of them. However, the PSG side that will line up against Bayern today is a completely different animal to previous incarnations of a side whose backbone – or apparent lack thereof – was the subject of much discussion and mockery in European football circles. In winning a Ligue1, Coupe de France and Champions League treble last season they’ve made a statement and now have nothing to fear.
PSG v Bayern Munich line-ups
Paris Saint-Germain: Donnarumma, Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, Marquinhos, Pacho, Vitinha, Neves, Fabian, Doue, Barcola, Kvaratskhelia.
Subs: Safonov, Tenas, Hernandez, Lucas Beraldo, Kamara, Lee, Zaire Emery, Mayulu, Dembele, Goncalo Ramos, Mbaye.
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Laimer, Stanisic, Upamecano, Tah, Pavlovic, Olise, Kimmich, Musiala, Coman, Kane.
Subs: Peretz, Urbig, Guerreiro, Kim, Boey, Aznou, Kiala, Goretzka, Joao Palhinha, Bischof, Karl, Daiber, Muller, Gnabry, Kusi-Asare.
Today’s match officials
Premier League staple Anthony Taylor leads today’s team of match officials and may find himself on the wrong end of some “banter” from Bayern fans who will not have forgotten the penalty he failed to award Germany in their thrilling Euro 2024 quarter-final defeat against Spain for what they and others felt to be a fairly blatant Marc Cucurella handball.
With the scores level at 1-1, the Spanish full-back blocked a powerful, goalbound Jamal Musiala shot with his hand, Taylor decided against awarding a spot-kick and Spain went on to win the match and tournament. It was subsequently decreed by some panel of eggheads that Talor had made the wrong decision, although to be fair, Cucurella’s arm was stretched resolutely downwards rather than upwards or to one side. As for whether or not it was in a natural position? Well, you can argue that one until the cows come home.
Early team news: Ousmane Dembele missed all three group games through injury but returned as a substitute for his side’s win over Inter Miami in the first knockout round. The winger was sent off in PSG’s defeat at the hands of Bayern in November and will be hoping to make amends if he gets a run-out today.
Bayern Munich will be without Leroy Sane, who departed the club to join Galatasaray on a free transfer when his contract expired the day after he helped the German side beat Flamengo last weekend. Alphonso Davies (ACL) and Hiroki Ito (broken foot) remain sidelined, while Kim Min-jae (achilles) is nearing full fitness but seems unlikely to feature in this tournament. Due to leave Bayern as soon as their interest in the Club World Cup ends, Thomas Muller could make his 756th and final appearance for the club in Atlanta today.
Quarter-final: PSG v Bayern Munich
A much maligned vanity project and Fifa cash and power grab, the Club World Cup 2.0 has now reached that point where, whatever their feelings about having to travel stateside for up to a month at the end of a gruelling season, the remaining teams will now be of a mind that seeing as they’ve made it this far, they might as well try to go a little further. Chelsea and the Brazilian side Fluminense have already made it to the last four and in a few hours one of PSG and Bayern Munich will join them.
The European heavyweights meet for a noon showdown at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, a 75,000-capacity venue that is normally home to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and MLS’s Atlanta United. Notable for its iconic retractable roof and 360-degree halo video display, it is unlikely to be full given that Fifa were struggling to sell reduced price tickets for its upper tiers during the week at a cut-price $44.
Assuming the pinwheel roof is closed for today’s match, any potential last-minute walk-ups are unlikely to be put off by the forecast 32C heat forecast for Atlanta this afternoon. The cool conditions inside this EnormoDome will also suit the aggressive pressing style so synonymous with both Bayern and PSG. Kick-off is at 5pm (BST) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
