All eyes will be on the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night once again as French champions Paris Saint-Germain take on Real Madrid in Group A of the Champions League.
Two weeks ago, both teams played out a disappointing goalless draw in Paris, but now there is a little more to play for, with the onus on Rafa Benitez's side to take the initiative and force their will on the Ligue 1 side.
Both clubs start the game on seven points, with PSG sitting on top due to goal difference. The draw would suit the French side, leaving the chance to finish first in the group in their own hands.
Both teams kept clean sheets in the opening games against Malmo and Shakhtar Donetsk and will be confident of doing that again in the last two matches—making Tuesday's game a huge opportunity for either side to take charge of the group.
The game is set up beautifully to be a wonderful spectacle. Real Madrid will be expected to take the game to Laurent Blanc's side. They are still considered to be higher up the chain than their French opponents, and will be keen to win at home. For PSG, they want to be considered as one of the best teams in Europe, and to do that, they have to beat the best.
They failed to take that chance when a less than full-strength Real side arrived in the French capital a fortnight ago, and it would be a wonderful statement if they could take all three points off Los Blancos in Spain.
Date: Tuesday, November 2, 2015
Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT / 2:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
TV Info: BT Sport (UK), Fox Soccer (US)
Live Stream: Fox Soccer2Go (US)
Real Madrid named Colombian James Rodriguez in their squad for Tuesday's game after he missed the match in Paris. However, the former Monaco man may start on the bench having not played for the club since the end of August.
Centre-back Pepe has also been named in the squad, but Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale will again miss out.
PSG are still without Marquinhos (hamstring), and Javier Pastore (conjunctivitis). David Luiz is back in the squad, but there are doubts over whether he will be fit enough to start beside the club's only other fit centre-back, Thiago Silva.
Benjamin Stambouli, Thiago Motta or Serge Aurier could all play beside the Brazilian, but playing any of them there would weaken the team by taking them out of their natural position.
Real Madrid (4-3-3): Keylor Navas; Danilo, Pepe, Raphael Varane, Marcelo; Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Luca Modric; Isco, Jese, Cristiano Ronaldo.
PSG (4-3-3): Kevin Trapp; Serge Aurier, Thiago Motta, Thiago Silva, Maxwell; Benjamin Stambouli, Blaise Matuidi, Marco Verratti; Angel Di Maria, Edinson Cavani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Marco Verratti's role in the PSG team is becoming more and more crucial. Blanc tried to rest him against Rennes on Friday, but with the game locked at 0-0, the Italian came on and played a huge part in the game's only goal.
The former Pescara man has excelled in PSG's three-man midfield and is relishing his important role:
He told PSG's official website:
I have always been very small so I was often put in attack to be 'the least dangerous to my team as possible!
But I felt better as soon as I stepped back into midfielder. For that, I have to thank (Zdenek) Zeman and (Eusebio) Di Francesco, who first played me in this role.
I think it's my best position. I can drift out wide or help construct the play. I feel most comfortable here.
His ability to control the game, start the PSG attacks and set the pace of his team's play will be vital if the French side want to pick up all three points on Tuesday.
After the first leg, PSG's attacking trio of Ibrahimovic, Cavani and Di Maria were criticised for failing to impose themselves on the match. They followed that up with a 4-1 win over Saint-Etienne and Blanc will be hoping for that level of performance on Tuesday.
Di Maria has already contributed three goals and three assists during his eight appearances in Ligue 1, but he will be hoping to add to his goal against Malmo in this season's Champions League. To do that, he'll need to get the better of Marcelo in a classic Brazil vs. Argentina battle down the right of the PSG attack.
The PSG man will have to be wary of Marcelo's attacking ability, already this season the full-back has scored twice and provided one assist in the league, demonstrating his desire to get forward. If Di Maria doesn't help in his defensive duties, Marcelo will not wait for an invitation to push forward.
"Di Maria's had an average early part of the season," Blanc told reporters before the first game in Paris, per James Cambridge of the Daily Express.
"He's aware of that and he knows he can do a lot better. He's committed to having a great game."
It didn't happen that night, and regardless of league form, his success as a signing will all depend on how he performs against Europe's best.
