PSG-Manchester City: Mbappé and Neymar chase Haaland

The hunt for Erling Braut Haaland is on. If the Norwegian Dortmund is, with ten goals on the clock, the current top scorer in the Champions League, the elimination of Borussia in the quarter-finals could deprive him of first place. They are indeed several still in the running to be able to hope to dethrone him by the final of the event on May 29. Karim Benzema, who scored his sixth goal in the competition this season Tuesday April 27 with Real Madrid and Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud (6 goals) are among them. But the first place of the Norwegian could also be threatened by the tandem of PSG, Neymar - Mbappé, if it shines this Wednesday evening during the night of the stars against Manchester City in the semi-final first leg. The Brazilian has already scored six goals in the seven games played on the European stage.The tricolor world champion has made him tremble the nets eight times in the last five games.

Here are the other figures to know before the PSG - City clash.

3.

Manchester City's defense is not only the most airtight in the Premier League (24 goals conceded) but above all it is the most impassable in Europe.

She has conceded only three small goals since the start of the current Champions League campaign, or ten games.

The defense of the Citizens, who had yielded only once in the group stage against Porto (3-1) on the first day of the competition, folded in the quarter-final first leg and back against Dortmund (2- 1), without this preventing it from reaching the last square.

In the group stage, she went on seven games without conceding a goal, a performance that only AC Milan (2004-2005) and Arsenal (2005-2006) had achieved.

2.

The second consecutive participation of PSG in the last four of the event would almost make you forget that, this season, the capital club is not sovereign at the Parc des Princes in the Champions League.

Under Pochettino, Paris, held in check by Barcelona (1-1) and beaten by Bayern (0-1) has still not won at home in the European Cup.

We must go back to December 9 and the victory in front of Basaksehir (5-1) to find traces of the second and (for the time being) the last Parisian success at the Parc in this 2020-21 campaign, after that obtained against Leipzig (1-0 ).

1.

Will PSG win their first success tonight against Manchester City on the European scene?

The capital club remains in effect on three unsuccessful matches against the Skyblues in the European Cup.

In 2008, the two clubs could not decide between themselves in a group match of C3 (0-0).

In 2016, after a draw (2-2) at the Parc des Princes (goals from Ibrahimovic and Rabiot), the English eliminated Paris in the Champions League quarter-finals (1-0).

2.

Be careful, PSG is a team that seems to smile at Kevyn De Bruyne.

The Belgian had indeed been the author of two of the three goals scored by Manchester City in the quarter-finals in 2016. After scoring at the Parc des Princes, the Mancunian captain had been the author of the goal of elimination on the return to Etihad Stadium.

18.

Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino have faced each other eighteen times since starting their coaching careers.

The Manchester City coach is also the one Pochettino has faced the most since his first steps on the bench of Espanyol Barcelona.

For now, the PSG coach is lagging behind since he conceded ten losses and five draws.

He can, on the other hand, boast of having eliminated his counterpart in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2019, the year he led Tottenham in the final of the event.

Read alsoPSG-Manchester City: Pochettino - Guardiola, so far and so close

8.

Pep Guardiola becomes the coach who, with José Mourinho, will have played the most Champions League semi-finals in history (eight). Manchester City is, conversely, the only club in the last four to have never yet invited to the Champions League final. The Citizens' best performance in the event was a semi-final played in 2016.