Champions League Schedule, Bayern Vs PSG: Neymar Fit, Lewandowski Absent

Neymar has participated in training with PSG (Twitter @PSG_English)

JAKARTA - Paris Saint-Germain is seeking to avenge their defeat in last season's final when they meet Bayern Munich again in this week's Champions League last eight.

However, the French giants appear to have suffered a setback even though Mauricio Pochettino came to coach them.

The news of Robert Lewandowski's absence for the first leg of the quarter-final at the Allianz Arena on Thursday evening was warmly welcomed in Paris, especially following the news of Neymar's failure after a long absence.

However, the news of Marco Verratti's absence after testing positive for COVID-19 could create big problems for Pochettino.

The former PSG captain from Argentina was appointed by the Qatar club last January on a difficult mission, going one better than his predecessor, Thomas Tuchel.

Under Tuchel, the Paris city team won every domestic trophy in France last season before reaching the Champions League final for the first time.

In some ways, PSG is facing more pressure at the moment than they did when they lost 1-0 to Bayern in Lisbon last August.

Advancing to the final of this elite European club competition is really a big step forward, but if eliminated in the quarter-finals it will be a big setback for PSG and Pochettino, especially as they are currently behind with the top of the French Ligue 1 standings.

The former Tottenham Hotspur coach said last month he needed time to show his abilities at the Parc des Princes and that he would not be able to make the changes he wanted until the next pre-season.

The 49-year-old, who lost 2-7 against Bayern in one of his last games with Spurs, tried to emphasize this last weekend by saying to Le Parisien: "You can judge me from next season".

He added: "If we had won the Champions League or the French Cup or Ligue 1 our influence would have been minimal. It would be the same if we had won nothing. It mainly depends on the players".

Of the squad that started last season's final, only captain Thiago Silva has left, while Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who came off the bench, has already moved to Bayern.

But he was replaced by Moise Kean and the Italian is an improvement for PSG as he has scored 15 goals, including three in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, left-back Juan Bernat has come close to being sidelined throughout the season through injury, and PSG is facing problems at both full-back positions.

What Pochettino really needs right now is that Neymar has found his best form again and Kylian Mbappe is playing brilliantly again. PSG's best form under Pochettino came when Mbappe created a hat-trick against Barcelona which he repeated in the 4-2 win against Lyon.

But Mbappe has been on the ups and downs and has often been disappointing under both Tuchel and Pochettino.

They have lost 10 times this season, including losing three of their last six league outings.

Their 0-1 home defeat to Lille when Neymar was sent off left them three points behind Ligue's 1 top Lille with seven games remaining.

Maybe there is no problem failing to win the French League, but PSG could not qualify for the Champions League next season if they fail to enter the top three of Ligue 1.

If that happens, it will be very embarrassing for a club like PSG who lost 1-3 on their last trip to Bayern during a group stage match while under Unai Emery in 2017.

"We have experienced ups and downs a lot, so we have to be more consistent like the previous seasons", captain Marquinhos told Canal Plus.

"We can still achieve great things so we have to focus on positive things and see what we can improve on. This match will be one of our biggest games this season", concluded Marquinhos as quoted by Antara from AFP.