PSG and RB Leipzig fight it out in semis
Paris club ready to unleash array of stars against German minnows
The first Champions League semi-final will serve up a David and Goliath story with a difference as big-spending French giants Paris St-Germain take on German fairy-tale minnows RB Leipzig. The only thing these two opponents have in common is the fact that they are both attempting to reach their first Champions League final.
PSG will line for today’s semi-final with a high-profile squad, full of big-name stars such as Kylian Mbappe, world record signing Neymar and Angel Di Maria, while the Germans are a bunch of relative unknowns, who are taking their bow on one of the biggest football stages for the first time.
What adds the spice to this clash is the fact that Leipzig have almost nothing to lose, with their gung-ho attitude serving them well to reach the last four of this minitournament being held in Lisbon due to the coronavirus pandemic. For PSG, anything short of at least reaching the final will be regarded as a failure, where a priority aim has been to breakthrough with the European title after years of dominance in France.
PSG are mainstays at the top table in Europe thanks to the billions pumped in by their Qatari owners, while Leipzig were only formed in 2009 by energy drink company Red Bull, which in 2009 bought the licence rights from fifth-tier SSV Markranstaedt and financed the new team’s steady promotion through the lower leagues.
Leipzig finally reached the Bundesliga in 2016 and the Champions League a few years later, but they have become highly unpopular at home because of their fast rise financed by Red Bull, prompting rivals fans to often protest at games.
In their second Champions League appearance, they have eliminated Jose Mourinho’s English giants Tottenham Hotspur in the round of 16 and star-laden La Liga club Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals.
PSG overcame Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 and were on the brink of going out before two late goals saw them squeeze past Italian surprise package Atalanta in the last eight.