Champions League final: PSG v Bayern build-up as it happened
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ByEurosport
Updated 23/08/2020 at 18:05 GMT
All the build-up to the 2020 Champions League final between PSG and Bayern Munich at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal.
Champions League
Image credit: Getty Images
19:00 - Live coverage begins
That's it for our rolling pre-match coverage here, but updates for the match have started now. Keep up here.
18:45 - Thiago Silva set for Chelsea?
That's the suggestion from one-man transfer industry Fabrizio Romano. It would be interesting to see his creaking frame in the Premier League.
18:30 - On a television?
18:15 - Mbappe also stands at the crossroads of an enormous precipice
17:45 - Mbappe praises Neuer
Kylian Mbappe has spoken in praise of his rival tonight, Manuel Neuer.
17:30 - Lewandowski stands at the crossroads of an enormous precipice
Robert Lewandowski needs an entirely gettable two goals in the match today to become the player with the best scoring season in the Champions League.
17:15 - Hardcore statistical analysis
The chaps at Opta are on fire.
17:00 - PSG ready
16:45 - Why Bayern should fear PSG in Lisbon final
Bayern Munich may be the most in-form team to ever reach the Champions League final but, writes Daniel Harris, that does not mean they are invulnerable - far from it.
16:15 - Ceferin: One match system 'more interesting'
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says the single-game knockout format, used in the Champions League this year from the quarter-final onwards, has produced more exciting football than the usual two-legged games and could be revisited in the future.
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'One match system more interesting' - UEFA president on possible changes to UCL knockout format
15:50 - 'Lewandowski could get even better'
Robert Lewandowski is one of the best players the Bundesliga has ever seen and he could get even better, says our expert Peer Kuni at Eurosport Germany.
15:20 - Team news rumours circulating
15:00 - Tuchel: Beating Bayern will be difficult
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Thomas Tuchel: Beating Bayern Munich for PSG will be 'very, very difficult'
14:20 - Late fitness test for Boateng
Bayern Munich central defender Jerome Boateng faces a late fitness test, but coach Hansi Flick says whatever the line-up he does not plan to radically change his team's tactics.
Boateng had to go off at half-time with a muscle injury in Wednesday's 3-0 semi-final win over Lyon and Flick said he would be assessed after training later on Saturday.
"What's important is that we can actually press the opposition when they're in possession and then when the ball goes into that space in behind us, our defenders need to make sure that we cover all of that ground.
"They have a lot of quality in their attack, perhaps similar to Barcelona on that score. Lyon played in a very direct style, they went straight towards goal and often played long balls forward into that spacing behind the defence."
13:54 - The German view: Bayern will win tonight
With all due respect to PSG, on Sunday night we'll see the Bayern players dancing on the pitch of the Estádio da Luz with the "Henkelpott" as winners of the Champions League.
Their hunger, their focus, their immense quality - as a collective as well as on an individual level - plus their experience will make the difference.
Unlike the Barca game the semi-final against Lyon was far from a historic performance - in fact it was a warning at the right time which will only result in them being even more focused. The treble will be theirs.
Andreas Schulz
13:31 - Good stat
13:08 - Bayern beat Lyon 3-0 in their semi-final
And this was the pick of the goals as Serge Gnabry scored twice against the Ligue 1 club.
12:45 - Mbappe: Even Bayern has weaknesses
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Kylian Mbappe: Every team has weaknesses, even Bayern Munich
12:15 - Ceferin: UEFA considering last-eight single ties
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says the single-game knockout format, used in the Champions League this year from the quarter-final onwards, has produced more exciting football than the usual two-legged games and could be revisited in the future.
The format was changed in order to allow the competition to be completed in a shorter time-span after the Covid-19 pandemic halted play for several months across Europe in March.
Eight clubs headed to Lisbon and the final will be contested later on Sunday, pitting Bayern Munich against Paris St Germain.
"We were forced to do it but in the end we see that we found out something new. So we will think about it in the future for sure," Ceferin told Reuters in an interview.
The UEFA president said that without a second-leg to fall back on, teams have been forced to go for goals.
“(There has been) not so much tactics. If it is one match, if one team scores then the other has to score as soon as possible. If it is two legged system then there is still time to win the next match," he said.
More exciting matches for sure but of course we also have to think about the fact that we have less matches and broadcasters (can) say ‘you don’t have as many matches as before, this is different’ so we will have to discuss when this crazy situation ends.
11:53 - 'Lewandowski the best centre forward in the world'
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'Robert Lewandowski is best centre forward in world' - Hansi Flick
11:37 - No way through
11:19 - PSG can exploit Bayern's high line - Rooney
Former England skipper Wayne Rooney believes Paris St Germain have the speed and skill to exploit Bayern Munich's high defensive line in tonight's Champions League final and punish them in a way Olympique Lyonnais could not.
"Bayern have the advantage that most of their starting line-up have played in the Champions League final before. But I have a feeling for PSG," Rooney, who won the Champions League with Manchester United in 2008, wrote in his column for the Sunday Times.
"It will be a shoot-out and I think with Neymar, Mbappe and Di Maria, PSG will exploit the high line that Bayern play. They will get chances and take them.
I have no doubt that press will create chances for Bayern, but PSG are good enough in possession to deal with it and once they play through it there will be opportunities for their attackers.
11:02 - Di Maria feels at home in Lisbon
As soon as UEFA decided that Portuguese capital Lisbon would host the quarter-finals onwards in a mini-tournament, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, PSG's Angel Di Maria felt good vibes.
After PSG scrambled past Atalanta in a dramatic comeback, the 32-year-old was then instrumental as the Parisians outclassed RB Leipzig in the semi-finals to set up a meeting with Bayern Munich at the home of Benfica tonight.
It is the ground at which Di Maria played for three seasons while with the Portuguese club and the one which he returned to in 2014 to help inspire Real Madrid to an emphatic victory in the Champions League final against Atletico Madrid.
Di Maria was man of the match in that clash and now has the perfect stage to help PSG realise their ambition of winning Europe's most-coveted club crown for the first time.
"When they changed the venue to Lisbon, I had a strange feeling in my body that reminded me of the old times when I lived here for three years and how happy I was in Lisbon during those years," Di Maria told UEFA's website.
"To be able to get to a final and make history with a club like Paris -- reaching their first final -- and because I won it in 2014 with Real Madrid in the same stadium...
And to also have the chance to play the quarters and semis at the Estadio da Luz, as well as the final... It's been a great combination for me, it's felt really great.
10:46 - Tolisso's reaction: priceless
10:31 - The Spanish view on the final
Spanish fans - especially Barcelona and Real Madrid supporters - would prefer for PSG to win instead of Bayern.
Why? From Real Madrid's viewpoint, Bayern represent a historic enemy. Granted, Madridistas were so happy when Thomas Muller and company scored again and again against Barcelona, but the final is another question. if Kylian Mbappe wins his first Champions League, he will achieve his ambition with the club and might look for a new challenge - for example, joining Real Madrid in 2021 or 2022 to fulfil his dream of playing for the club.
It is a similar dynamic for Barca; Cules want a PSG win, as from a Neymar perspective, should he win the Champions League, he will have furnished his legacy at the club and the argument for a return to the Camp Nou becomes more persuasive. a powerful reason to support the French champions, also.
Adrian Garcia
10:21 - Coman: Not about me against PSG
Bayern Munich's tricky winger Kingsley Coman said on Friday the Champions League final is not about him facing his former club, Paris Saint-Germain, when the teams meet tonight.
Coman played three games for PSG in 2013 before he moved to Juventus followed by Bayern.
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Not about me against PSG says former player Kingsley Coman
10:09 - Who is going to win it?
It's the big question, really, so we've been trying to at least go some way to answering it.
How? Well, we canvassed our European offices to find out who they felt was the favourite...
10:00 - Today is the day!
It's the one we've been waiting for - the Champions League final is upon us with Bayern Munich set to face Paris Saint-Germain in Lisbon tonight.
We will provide you all the pre-match chat, analysis and build-up right here as we get set for a tantalising tie in Portugal!
You will also be able to follow live updates of the game on the Eurosport UK app and website from 7pm this evening.
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