MOUTHWATERING! Bring popcorn for one of the ties of the UWCL: PSG v Bayern.

If the thought of PSG v Bayern Munich in the UEFA Women’s Champions League wasn’t enough, just imagine the atmosphere at the Parc des Princes for this heavyweight clash on Tuesday night.

PSG midfielder Joe Echegini and Bayern’s captain Glódís Viggósdóttir tell Helen M Jerome about the night we have in store – and how they’ve been faring so far this season.  

When you look at their form in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, nothing separates Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. Which only makes the prospect of them butting heads under the floodlights at the iconic Parc des Princes even more enticing.  

What does separate these giants, however, is the rock-solid experience running through the entire Bayern squad, including Pernille Harder, Vanessa Gilles, Linda Dallmann and Magda Eriksson, plus the inimitable Klara Bühl – and there’s more on her from her Icelandic skipper Glódís Viggósdóttir below.

Whereas PSG now have youth stepping up – who Nigerian international Joe Echegini talks about excitedly – alongside a spine of their own veterans, from Olga Carmona and Griedge Mbock to Sakina Karchaoui and Jackie Groenen.

We mark your cards and prepare you for the imminent match with the words of first PSG’s Joe Echegini, and then Bayern’s Glódís Viggósdóttir.

JOE ECHEGINI, PSG

The Champions League has a very different vibe to it, a different feeling, and I wonder if you could tell us how you feel when you walk out onto the pitch and hear the theme and everything else?

Joe Echegini: Oh, the feeling… I just get goosebumps when I’m walking on the field, and I’m just… excited. I’m always excited to play football, but it’s almost like an honourable excitement to play in a Champions League match.

It’s the dream, I would say, for most footballers, and I think we almost don’t realise how privileged we are, how lucky we are to be able to play in a Champions League game, or even start and play significant minutes in these games.

So, I always like to think about that and appreciate that in that moment. So yeah, it’s a proud, happy moment for me.

When you look at yourselves and Bayern, and you’ve got identical records, and you’re neck and neck, so this could be quite a decisive game in terms of league positions.

So what do you see as your main threat, and Bayern’s main threat?

Echegini: I feel like Bayern are very experienced, and they have a lot of quality, all over the pitch.

I feel like we might lack experience, because we have a younger team, but we have the same quality, in my opinion.

I feel like – oof – they have threat all over the field, but I think we do as well. So it’s gonna be a very, very 50-50 game, to be honest.

I’ve only seen PSG a couple of times this season, so can you tell me about a couple of young players we should look out for?

Echegini: Oh, there’s a lot. We have Léa [Morissaint] and we have Marie Estella [Lafontaine]! They’re both very young – 18 and 17 – attacking forwards.

Then Tara [Elimbi Gilbert], who scored the equalizer against Man City.

And Thiniba [Samoura]. She’s one of our starting centre-backs. She’s still young, 22. So, we have a lot of young talent all over the field who are starting these games.

Yeah, we have Flo [Florianne Jourde, above left], who’s 22 years old. Merve [Merveille Kanjinga] on the right.

There’s half the team I’ve already mentioned! Merve is 23. So, yeah, there’s a lot of youth all over the pitch, a lot of quality, all over. So yeah, young group.

GLÓDÍS VIGGÓSDÓTTIR, BAYERN MUNICH

You’ve been playing in the Champions League for 15 years, so how does it feel, even now, when you step out under the lights – at your favourite stadium, Parc des Princes? When you hear the sound of the Champions League theme… how do you feel now?

Glódís Viggósdóttir: It’s always special to walk out, into the big stadium, see the fans, hear their cheers.

To line up and hear the song obviously gives you always a little bit of butterflies, and you get this excited feeling.

That’s the beauty of football, in that it doesn’t matter how long you’ve played, it doesn’t matter what you’re playing, but you always get this feeling of, wow, this is incredible.

Your whole team is stacked with talent, but can I ask you to talk about two of them, Momoko Tanikawa and Klara Bühl?

Viggósdóttir: Yeah, I mean, Momoko [Tanikawa, below] is generational talent, she’s an incredible footballer. The way that she moves, her passing, her dribbling.

As a defender, she’s really, really tough to play against. I want to point out her defensive work is really, really impressive. It doesn’t get talked about at all, because obviously she has other attributes, but this is something she’s been working on, and I think it’s improved a lot.

And I’m just incredibly proud to see her in training, and how she grows, and how humble she stays. She always wants to learn, she always wants to improve, and she’s looking for ways to do that constantly, and I think when you’ve had as much success as she’s had at a young age, that’s not always easy.

She’s an incredible player and person as well.

Klara Bühl (below), for me, is one of the best players in the world, without a doubt. I think the way she plays, she’s so dangerous.

You can see that teams are doubling up on her because they’re scared of her dribbling, of her shooting, of her left foot, right foot…

She’s the same, she works so hard for the team. She would never be the one to just walk around. She will do her defensive work, running back and forth, what’s needed.

And then, of course, the way that she can step up in moments when we need her is so special to have, and I can only say good things about Klara, both on and off the pitch.

You know the drill come Tuesday night at 8pm. If you’re in the UK, fire up Disney+.
Otherwise use the handy link for wherever you are in the world: https://wheretowatch.uefa.com/

Photos: UEFA