Lionel Messi’s PSG face a dangerous RB Leipzig who has ground to make up at the midpoint of the UEFA Champions League group stage. The Parisian side are undefeated and are in first place after the first two games, but Leipzig are down and desperate for their first points.
PSG have only suffered one defeat in their last 12 matches in all competitions, so a victory in the Parc des Princes will be a difficult proposition for Leipzig. The good news for the German team trained by the American Jesse Marsch is that Neymar (adductor), Ángel Di María (sanction), Mauro Icardo (coach’s decision) and Leandro Paredes (quadruple) will be lost to PSG.
Another American, midfielder Tyler Adams, is expected to join the game after having rested for the weekend. Leipzig’s star of the first two months of the season is former PSG academy product Christopher Nkunku, who scored a hat trick against Manchester City in the opener of the group stage. He has stayed hot with nine goals in 11 appearances in all competitions.
MORE: Champions League Group Schedule and Classification
These two teams have some recent history between them: this is the third consecutive Champions League tournament in which they will meet. Each team won their home game in the group stage of the last edition, while PSG prevailed in the 2020 Champions League semi-finals.
Sporting News will follow the event live and provide score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
PSG vs. RB Leipzig live
| 1 HOUR | 2H | Final | |
| PSG | 1 | – | – |
| RB Leipzig | 0 | – | – |
Goals:
PSG – Kylian Mbappé – 9 min.
(All the eastern time)
9 min.: Mbappé! PSG leads 1-0. Run a solo run over the last defender Orban and fire a low shot past the ‘keeper. It is unstoppable.
8 min.: Both teams go blow by blow to start. Navas has to go very low to stop a cross from the right.
7th minute: Julian Draxler stretches to find a cross in the box and his redirection nearly puts the ball into the net.
3rd minute: What an opportunity for RB Leipzig! Christopher Nkunku was hesitant and served the ball late to teammate Konrad Laimer in the area. His shot was stopped by Keylor Navas. At the next corner, Tyler Adams’ header deflected from the arc.
1st min .: Kylian Mbappé with the run to the left and RB Leipzig can barely catch up. His center from the left crosses the area. His teammates couldn’t catch up either.
1st min .: They were out. PSG begins.
3:00 pm ET: The scenes of the Park of the Princes:
2:57 pm ET: The teams are in the tunnel ready to hit the field.
2:38 pm ET: This has to warm your heart: Messi and Ronaldinho meet again.
2:30 pm ET: It seems that warm-ups are taking place:
2:25 pm ET: The RB Leipzig star player everyone will have in their sights (9 goals in 11 appearances):
2:05 pm ET: See who is available for the Paris match: former PSG star Ronaldinho.
🗣💬 “For me it is a lot of emotions to be in the park. People are still very nice to me”
🇧🇷 Ronaldinho is live in After. And in French please #RMCLive pic.twitter.com/lfTSH29K3K
– After Foot RMC (@AfterRMC) October 19, 2021
PSG vs. RB Leipzig: starting lineups
Without Neymar (adductor) and Angel Di María (suspended), it would normally be expected that coach Mauricio Pochettino would place Mauro Icardi in the forward center flanked by Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi. But the personal problems that forced Icardi to miss a couple of practices have also cost him a place in the squad. Julian Draxler will team up with Mbappé and Messi up front.
Initial formation of PSG (4-3-3, from left to right): 1-Keylor Navas-GK – 25-Nuno Mendes, 3-Presnel Kimpembe, 5-Marquinhos, 2-Achraf Hakimi – 27-Idrissa Gueye, 6-Marco Verratti, 21-Ander Herrera – 23-Julian Draxler, 7-Kylian Mbappe 30-Lionel Messi
Substitutes for PSG (10): 50-Gigi Donnarumma-GK, 60-Alexandre Letellier, 24-Thilo Kehrer, 22-Abdou Diallo, 20-Layvin Kurzawa, 17-Collin Dagba, 39-Nathan Bitumazala, 15-Danilo Pereira, 18-Georginio Wijnaldum, 28-Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe
Interesting changes made by RB Leipzig coach Jesse Marsch, who has switched to the front trio. Instead of the usual Forsberg-Poulsen-Nkunku line, it gives the start to Andre Silva. Tyler Adams is also back in the starting lineup after resting for the weekend.
RB Leipzig starting lineup (3-4-3, left to right): 1-Peter Gulacsi-GK – 16-Lukas Klostermann, 4-Willi Orban, 2-Mohamed Simakan – 3-Angelino, 27-Konrad Laimer, 8-Amadou Haidara, 14-Tyler Adams – 22-Nordi Mukiele, 33-Andre Silva , 18-Christopher Nkunku
Substitutes for RB Leipzig (8): 31-Josep Martinez-GK, 32-Josko Gvardiol, 39-Benjamin Heinrichs, 44-Kevin Kampl, 17-Dominik Szoboszlai, 26-Ilaix Moriba, 10-Emil Forsberg, 9-Yussuf Poulsen
How to watch PSG vs. RB Leipzig
- Date: Tuesday October 19
- Weather: 3 pm ET
- Television channel: none
- Streaming (US): Paramount +, PrendeTV
- Streaming (Canada): DAZN
Lionel Messi’s third match of the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain will be available via streaming only. Paramount + will broadcast the game in English, while Univision’s free streaming platform PrendeTV will broadcast the broadcast in Spanish.
DAZN holds the rights to the UEFA Champions League in Canada and will broadcast the match for subscribers.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.