Tuesday night sees Bayern Munich take on Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.
It’s a fixture, much like Real Madrid v Man City, that has become synonymous with the premier European competition, given that the German and French giants have faced each other nine times in the last nine seasons, and 15 times in total.
Luis Enrique can make UCL history
Bayern have won the last five meetings in the UCL, and if Vincent Kompany oversees another victory on Tuesday night, it will be his third win in succession against Luis Enrique, the most any opposition manager will have earned against the Spaniard in the competition.
Currently, Pep Guardiola is the coach who was quickest to 50 wins in the competition, taking him 80 games to do so.
The record was set in 2015 (the year Luis Enrique won the UCL title with Barcelona) against Dinamo Zagreb, when Guardiola was Bayern manager.
If PSG conquer the Bavarians, however, then Pep’s former Barcelona colleague will have done it in four fewer games (76).
Bayern’s superb record v PSG
Bayern’s five-game winning streak is already the longest any team has held over PSG, and the latter’s grip on the trophy will therefore undoubtedly be threatened over the next 180 minutes of action across the two legs.
Losing 60% of their matches against the Bundesliga champions (nine out of 15) is also PSG’s highest percentage of defeats against a team that they’ve faced at least three times in the Champions League.
Kompany’s XI won’t be able to be as gung-ho as normal, given that the Ligue 1 side has scored at least two goals in each of their last eight knockout games in the UCL.
Luis Enrique also managed the only other team to do so, and that was his Barcelona side between 2015 and 2016.
Goals galore
With 38 goals each in this season’s competition, Bayern and PSG are the joint top scorers, suggesting that their meeting could be a real goal fest if both teams are intent on attacking from the first whistle.
Harry Kane is an obvious danger man for the hosts to try and deal with, and his 12 goals in the competition during 2025/26 are the most by an Englishman in one edition of the tournament.
Having scored in his last four UCL knockout stage matches, if Kane were to find the net again, he would equal Robert Lewandowski’s Bayern record of finding the net in five consecutive knockout stage games.
Luis Diaz has also enjoyed himself in Europe, and if he registers another goal contribution on Tuesday night (he’s currently on six goals and three assists), it will be the first time that three Bayern players have been involved in at least 10 goal contributions in a single Champions League campaign, as Kane already has 13, and Michael Olise has 10.
