This year is not going according to plan for PSG. While the 2022 World Cup break seemed to be useful for many teams, it clearly hasn’t been helpful for Paris Saint-Germain, who have already lost more games in 2023 (5) than in all of last year (4).
Shortly after being eliminated from the French Cup by lifelong rivals Olympique Marseille, Christophe Galtier‘s men were beaten by Bayern Munich in the resumption of the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League.
Since this is only the first leg of the Round of 16 tie, PSG are not eliminated from the Champions League yet. Here, we’ll explain what do Lionel Messi and company need in order to qualify for the quarterfinals.
What do PSG need to advance in the UEFA Champions League
PSG will head into the return leg in Germany trailing by one goal in the aggregate score. That means, they’ll need to beat Bayern by one goal to force the extra time. In order to turn the series around, PSG must defeat Bayern by two or more goals.
Does the Champions League have the away goal rule?
The UEFA Champions League no longer has the away goal rule, which consisted that the away goals were the tiebreaker when the aggregate score was level. Therefore, PSG don’t have to worry about it. They only need to focus on beating Bayern, as any other result would knock them out.