Two of the world’s biggest teams meet in the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinals, when Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich face off Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
PSG, the reigning UEFA Champions League winner, dismantled Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in the round of 16 with four goals in the first half of a 4-0 victory, while Bayern took down Brazilian side Flamengo 4-2 to set up the showdown with a familiar European foe.
Bayern defeated PSG 1-0 in the league stage of last season’s Champions League before the French side got its act together and marched to its first-ever European title.
“We have to try to take the energy and the good feeling into this match,” Bayern forward Harry Kane told the team website. “We know it’s going to be difficult but we feel like we can beat anyone when we’re at our top level.”
Follow along for all of Saturday’s action:
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How to watch PSG vs. Bayern Munich: TV channel, live stream
- TV channel: TNT
- Streaming: DAZN
Watch Club World Cup free on DAZN
Bayern’s Laimer gets yellow card, PSG makes change
Bayern has received more bad news, with Konrad Laimer being the first player to receive a booking after a 68th-minute challenge on Désiré Doué. That will have a major impact if Bayern advances, as Laimer will be suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
Meanwhile, Ousmane Dembélé (PSG’s top scorer in the 2024-25 season) is coming on to replace Bradley Barcola in the 70th minute.
Neuer denies Barcola
Suddenly PSG has a breakaway after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia slipped in him behind Bayern’s defense, with Bradley Barcola looking sure to score.
However, the 22-year-old started to lean for his shot early, and Manuel Neuer read his intentions, springing to his left to get fingertips to Barcola’s shot.
Still 0-0, but that was easily PSG’s best look so far.
PSG vs. Bayern: Second half begins
We’re back underway in this Club World Cup quarterfinal, with Bayern bringing on Serge Gnabry for the injured Jamal Musiala.
No word on Musiala’s status just yet.
Halftime: PSG 0, Bayern 0
It’s been nearly all Bayern Munich, but PSG has held on to keep this game scoreless at the halftime break. Bayern has disrupted PSG with an intelligent pressing scheme, and the UEFA Champions League winners have only sporadically been able to feed their attackers while fending off an increasing tide of chances.
However, the big story at the moment is what seems like a severe injury for Jamal Musiala, who badly wrenched his ankle after a collision in essentially the final moment of the first half.
Musiala appears seriously hurt
A collision chasing the ball down inside the PSG box has ended with a very alarming injury for Jamal Musiala.
It’s bad enough that Gianluigi Donnarumma is nearly in tears, with several players putting their hands on their head after seeing the state of the Germany midfielder. Mercifully we’re only getting one look at it on replay, which revealed what looked like a severe ankle problem.
Bayern goal waved off for offside
PSG is barely going to stagger into halftime with a 0-0 scoreline at this point, as Dayot Upamecano seemingly headed Bayern into the lead.
However, as the center back celebrates with a knee slide, the bad news arrives: the offside flag is up, and on replay it’s Upamecano and about four other teammates going too soon.
Great refereeing in first-half stoppage time, but for PSG the alarm bells have been ringing for some time.
Big save from Donnarumma denies Bayern
Aleksandar Pavlović didn’t mean for that to be a dangerous shot, but Bayern had its closest brush yet with a goal. Pavlović’s 42nd-minute attempt to slip Jamal Musiala in for a close-range chance didn’t quite connect, but Musiala’s lunging attempt to touch the ball home was a huge distraction for Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Nevertheless, the Italian goalkeeper managed to spot that Musiala didn’t get a touch, then react with stunning quickness to slap the ball away on the line.
Kane narrowly misses for Bayern
Kingsley Coman hasn’t featured much so far against his former club, but he just roasted two defenders in the 38th minute before driving a cross in for Harry Kane.
This looked like it was going to end in an opening goal, but the England striker’s header from close range zipped over the crossbar. That’s a let-off for PSG, as Kane has made a career out of burying chances like that one.
Kvaratskhelia nearly forces a goal, Bayern substitution
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia cut inside of Konrad Laimer and charged straight at goal, suddenly turning some possession into a major chance. Manuel Neuer did a great job to get a hand out and stop the initial shot, then stuffed Kvaratskhelia on the rebound to keep this game scoreless.
Josip Stanišić has taken a seat, and it’s the same hamstring issue from before. Sacha Boey has been brought in to replace the Croatian in the 34th minute.
PSG vs. Bayern: Olise forces game’s first big save
Michael Olise has been a major factor for Bayern in these early stages, and the France winger was just denied by a good save from Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 27th minute.
Olise’s shot from a slight angle had plenty of power, but Donnarumma correctly read that this would be a shot rather than a cross, allowing him to dive out and tip the ball away.
At the other end, Désiré Doué is down in a bit of pain, but it looks more like he’s hoping to get a penalty kick over some modest contact in the box. That didn’t pan out, we’re still at 0-0.
End-to-end as teams exchange chances
PSG finally found a counter-attacking opportunity, but the angle was just too narrow for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who fired a shot from a yard off the endline into the outside netting.
Bayern took the resulting goal kick quickly and briefly looked to have caught PSG out, but the French side recovered well enough to prevent a shot.
Meanwhile, Josip Stanišić seems to have felt some tightness in his hamstring, and Bayern is already getting Sacha Boey ready. Stanišić has come back on after some treatment, but that’s a situation to watch given PSG’s attacking speed.
Bayern vs. PSG: Germans on the front foot
For the first time at the Club World Cup, PSG is under something resembling sustained pressure as Bayern has kept the game closer to Gianluigi Donnarumma’s net.
There haven’t been a lot of chances, but after nine minutes, PSG has had to do a substantial amount of defending deep in their own end. The Ligue 1 side has handled that comfortably, forcing Bayern wide, but that’s about all you can say for their performance so far.
What time is Bayern vs. PSG?
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Bayern Munich is scheduled to kick off at
12 p.m. ET.
Bayern Munich vs. PSG lineups today
PSG vs. Bayern Munich odds
Odds via
BetMGM
, as of 9:30 a.m. ET
Regular time result
PSG +135
- Draw +260
- Bayern Munich +180
To advance
- PSG -135
- Bayern Munich +105
PSG can ‘take our revenge’ vs. Bayern
PSG can avenge a defeat that marked their lowest point this past season when they face Bayern Munich.
On Nov. 26, PSG suffered a 1-0 loss to Bayern that marked a third consecutive defeat in the UCL league chase and put their chances of progressing in danger. Kim Min-jae scored in the 38th minute and PSG star Ousmane Dembele was sent off for his second booking in the 56th in what was a dominant performance by the German side. But the Parisians rebounded to win their last three league phase games and advance, then stormed to the title while defeating Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal and Inter Milan along the way.
Despite that eventual triumph, PSG forward Bradley Barcola admitted this week that the loss would still be on his team’s mind heading into Saturday’s rematch.
“This could be a very good moment to take our revenge,” Barcolo said in an interview with RMC Sport. “When we faced them earlier this season, we weren’t in a great moment. Now I think we can do much better in this game. Are we favorites? I don’t know, but when we play like this, I think we’re unstoppable.”
– Field Level Media
