Berlin, Feb 14 (IANS) Defeat is nothing that footballers are overwhelmingly fond of, especially when experienced in important games, Cameroon international Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has concluded.
The 33-year-old might be the perfect witness to report the delicate issue credibly. “It still hurts,” the forward said when talking about the 2020 UEFA Champions League final with him losing 1-0 in PSG shirt against Bayern, reports Xinhua news agency.
In 2021, setback two followed, with the spearhead having changed into Bayern’s shirt. PSG booked a narrow win (3-2/0-1) in a last-8 clash at that time. “Bad memory,” the current Bayern striker remembers.
Not to speak of Bayern’s humiliating 3-0 defeat in the 2017/18 season leading to the dismissal of coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Details are deciding such games, the 33-year-old is concluding ahead of the last-16 duel this Tuesday evening when PSG and Bayern the sixth time in six years are crossing swords.
The Hamburg-born attacker hopes to turn things to good for his colors.
The number of energy-taking games after the 2022 FIFA World Cup indicates an advantage in favor of the reigning German champion.
The Bavarians can count on only six games since the Qatar tournament in addition to a long break of roughly two months until the national league’s restart.
PSG at the same time went through 12 games. On top, Kylian Mbappe for example was back to action only ten days after the lost World Cup final.
Bayern midfielder Joshua Kimmich used the opportunity of a 50-day break to get over the disappointing group exit of the German national team.
Paris star Lionel Messi enjoyed a three-week break but was still far from the vacation-like interruption of Bayern’s performers.
PSG’s injury list and lately poor results might tell the story.
The participation of Mbappe and Messi is said to be a cliffhanger.
The superstars around or not, nevertheless is affecting Bayern’s tactical approach. Coach Julian Nagelsmann is said to waver between a back-row of three and four.
“Games like that are a topic of your daily condition. Tuesday we will see two teams equipped with enormous individual quality facing a big fight,” the Bayern striker concluded.
Like Choupo-Moting doesn’t rate PSG as the nail-biters’ underdog.
“If you lost important games, you feel it come right away; you desperately want to turn things to good next time,” the Bayern striker said.
“People for a reason only remember the winners. I can tell you what my individual feeling is; it’s that I want to win the Champions League more than anything else.”
To turn painful feelings caused by defeats into positive energy is the spark in his case when returning to his former club in France.
In advance of important games, “you start to think about every detail of your action. And: Why is that? It’s because it makes winners,” the Bayern spearhead is adding.
–IANS
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