PSG in desperate need of win as Salzburg clash nears.
[introduction]
The UEFA Champions League clash, RB Salzburg vs. PSG, kicks off at 20:00 [GMT] on Tuesday, December 10, at Red Bull Arena Salzburg. Michael Oliver [ENG] will be the referee for this fixture, assisted by Stuart Burt [ENG] and James Mainwaring [ENG].
[home]
Salzburg will head into Tuesday’s clash with PSG looking to increase the possibility of making it to the UEFA Champions League knockout stage. The Austrian side have just three points on board, thanks to a 3-1 victory over Feyenoord on matchday four. However, the Red Bulls, who had lost their opening three matches, could not follow up on the win, succumbing to an embarrassing 5-0 defeat away at Bayer Leverkusen on matchday five. Currently, in the 32nd spot, Salzburg are three points off the playoff spots, and anything short of victory on Tuesday could rule them entirely out of going beyond the league phase. The only meeting between Salzburg and PSG happened in the 2011-12 Europa League, and each team won at home. However, they have already met a French side in this season’s UCL, losing 4-0 against Brest on MD2, a loss that equalled their joint-heaviest defeat in the competition. The Red Bulls have been uninspiring even in front of their home fans, having lost their last six home matches in the UCL, conceding 14 times and only scoring twice in those matches. A 2-2 draw with Rapid Wien in the Austrian Bundesliga on Saturday meant that Salzburg have also won just one of their last five matches [LLDWD]. A front three of Moussa Yeo, Petar Ratkov, and Nene Dorgeles is expected in a 4—3—3 formation against PSG.
[away]
PSG are having a poor UCL campaign, with the victory over Girona on matchday one being their only win in the competition. It has been a contrasting campaign for the Parisians on the continental turf and in Ligue 1, with Luis Enrique’s side currently top of the domestic league but 25th in the UCL, one spot outside the playoff spot. The 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich on Matchday 5 was their third defeat in five UCL matches, extending their winless run in the competition to four matches [WLDLL]. It is the longest that Enrique has gone in the UCL without a win as a manager, while the club have never gone five games in a row without defeat in the competition since 2015. The defeat also kickstarted a three-match winless streak for PSG across all competitions [WWLDD], having recorded draws against Nantes and Auxerre in Ligue 1. With rumours making rounds of discontent in the dressing room, only a win on Tuesday will calm nerves around the club. Bradley Barcola, Gonçalo Ramos, and Lee Kang-In are expected to lead the attack in a 4—3—3 formation against Salzburg.
