Paris vs Dortmund Champions League preview: where to watch, predicted line-ups, team news

Paris Saint-Germain welcome Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 on 11 March at 21:00 CET. This page will update with team news, quotes and expert analysis as kick-off approaches.

Where to watch the game on TV

Fans can find their local UEFA Champions League broadcast partner(s) here.

What happened in the first leg?

Erling Braut Haaland took his UEFA Champions League tally for the season to ten with two more strikes, the second coming just two minutes after Neymar had registered what might prove a crucial away goal for Paris.

Possible line-ups

Paris: Navas; Kehrer, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Bernat; Di María, Paredes, Gueye, Neymar; Cavani, Mbappé
Out: Dagba (knee), Herrera (thigh), Meunier (suspended), Thiago Silva (thigh), Verratti (suspended)
Misses next game if booked: Di María

Dortmund: Bürki; Zagadou, Hummels, Piszczek; Hakimi, Can, Witsel, Guerreiro; Sancho, Haaland, Brandt
Out: Delaney (knee), Reus (thigh)
Misses next game if booked: T. Hazard

Expert predictions

Chris Burke, Paris reporter: The pressure on Paris is huge as they head into the biggest game of their season so far – and the biggest since Manchester United dumped them out of the round of 16 for a third consecutive campaign last year. Yet another dispiriting exit would surely spell the end for Thomas Tuchel, who hopes key men Kylian Mbappé and Neymar can provide the cutting edge lacking in a first leg that left the French champions still in with a fighting chance.

Steffen Potter, Dortmund reporter: The three weeks since the first leg have brought three Bundesliga wins for Dortmund, and while each of them was more about grinding out a result than displaying flair, it seems that the Black and Yellows have found a new stability, which could tip the scales in their favour for this difficult away test in Paris. Expect Julian Brandt or Thorgan Hazard to probably compete for the spot in attacking midfield next to Jadon Sancho.

Latest results

Paris
Form: WWWLD
Latest: Lyon 1-5 Paris, 04/03 – French Cup semi-finals
Where they stand: 1st in Ligue 1, French Cup final, League Cup final

Dortmund
Form: WWWWW
Latest: Mönchengladbach 1-2 Dortmund, 07/03
Where they stand: 2nd in Bundesliga

What the coaches say

Thomas Tuchel, Paris coach: "Winning 1-0 would be enough, but I don't really think we're a team that can go out to win 1-0. We like to attack and we'll go out to score as many goals as we can. If, at the end, we've scored one goal without conceding, I'll be absolutely delighted and have no regrets, but we'll try to do better than that. And I'm convinced we're in better shape now [than we were going into the first leg]."

Lucien Favre, Dortmund coach: "Anything is possible for us and I believe that we can win in Paris as well. We won the first leg and could have done so by a bigger margin. From a tactical perspective and in regards to our fighting spirit, we did a really good job in Dortmund. At the weekend [against Mönchengladbach], we gave a superb performance. We had pace going forward, created a lot of chances and had plenty of possession."

Previous meetings

• The teams' only past fixtures before the first leg came in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League group stage, when both games ended all square. An 87th-minute goal from Paris substitute Clément Chantôme cancelled out Nuri Şahin's penalty opener for Dortmund five minutes into the second half on Matchday 3. The game at the Parc des Princes two weeks later finished goalless.

• Paris finished top of the section on 12 points, with Dortmund eliminated after finishing third on nine. The French club went on to reach the round of 16, losing to Benfica.

Form guide

Paris
• Paris won all but one of their six games in this season's group stage, dropping points only in a 2-2 draw at Real Madrid on Matchday 5. They beat the Spanish side 3-0 at the Parc des Princes in the opening round of fixtures, and twice defeated Club Brugge (5-0 a, 1-0 h) and Galatasaray (1-0 a, 5-0 h).

• Tuchel's side had the best defensive record in this season's group stage having conceded only twice, both goals against Madrid, although the defeat in Dortmund means they have now let in four goals in their last three UEFA Champions League matches.

• Paris have won nine of their last 14 UEFA Champions League matches (D3 L2) and have now scored in 31 consecutive games in the competition.

• Ligue 1 champions for the sixth time in seven years in 2018/19, and eighth time overall, this is the French side's eighth successive UEFA Champions League campaign.

• Semi-finalists in 1995, Paris have been knocked out in the round of 16 in the last three seasons having been eliminated in the quarter-finals in the four previous campaigns.

• In 2018/19, Paris looked set to reach the last eight after a 2-0 first-leg victory at Manchester United in the round of 16, but bowed out on away goals following a 3-1 home defeat.

• That gave Paris the round of 16 record W4 L3.

• The second-leg defeat against United was only the Parisian club's third reverse in their last 54 European home games since crashing 4-2 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv in the 2006/07 UEFA Cup group stage (W35 D16) – they also went down 3-1 to Barcelona in the 2014/15 quarter-finals and 2-1 against Real Madrid in the 2017/18 round of 16 second leg.

• Paris have won both of their previous two-legged knockout ties against German clubs, defeating Wolfsburg in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 32 (2-0 h, 3-1 a) and Bayer Leverkusen in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League round of 16 (4-0 a, 2-1 h).

• Paris's last home game against German opposition came in the 2017/18 group stage, a 3-0 win against Bayern Munchen. That extended the French side's record of never having lost at home to German visitors (W6 D1), although the subsequent 3-0 defeat in Munich ended a run of three successive wins, and seven games unbeaten, against German clubs, home and away.

• Paris have lost the away first leg on eight previous occasions; they have won five of those ties on aggregate, although they have lost the last two, most recently against Real Madrid in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League round of 16 (1-3 a, 1-2 h).

• Paris have also suffered aggregate defeats in both ties when the away first leg has finished 1-2 – against Juventus in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup semi-finals (0-1 h) and Benfica in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League round of 16 (1-1 h).

• Paris's European shoot-out record is W0 L1:
3-4 v Rangers, 2001/02 UEFA Cup third round

Dortmund
• Dortmund picked up ten points in this season's group stage to finish second behind Barcelona (14 points) in Group F, booking their place in the last 16 with a 2-1 home win against Slavia Praha on Matchday 6. Only three of their points came away from home; they lost at Internazionale (0-2) and Barcelona (1-3) after a 2-0 success at Slavia.

• Dortmund have won only five of their last 12 UEFA Champions League matches (D2 L5), including four this season.

• Dortmund have managed only three victories in their last 15 European away matches (D4 L8), although all of those wins have come in their last seven matches (L4) – and all in the UEFA Champions League.

• Second in the Bundesliga in 2018/19, this is Dortmund's 14th UEFA Champions League campaign; they were winners in 1997, and runners-up in 2013. BVB have now reached the round of 16 in six of their last seven participations.

• In last season's round of 16, Dortmund went down 4-0 on aggregate to Tottenham (0-3 a, 0-1 h). That gave the German club a record of W3 L2 at this stage of the competition.

• The loss at Tottenham made it five successive away defeats in UEFA Champions League knockout games for Dortmund, since a 4-2 victory at Zenit in the 2013/14 round of 16 first leg. They have scored only two goals in those defeats, conceding 12.

• The first-leg defeat of Paris was only the German club's third win in their last 13 knockout phase matches in UEFA competition (D3 L7).

• Dortmund's record in two-legged knockout ties against French clubs is W3 L2; having won the first three ties they have lost the last two, most recently against Monaco in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals (2-3 h, 1-3 a).

• Monaco also provided the opposition for Dortmund's most recent matches with a Ligue 1 side, in last season's group stage; the German club won 3-0 at home thanks to goals from Jacob Bruun Larsen, Paco Alcácer and Marco Reus, and 2-0 away through Raphaël Guerreiro's double.

• Dortmund have lost five of their ten away games against French clubs (W3 D2); last season's success at Monaco was only their second victory in eight trips (D2 L4).

• Dortmund have won 17 of the 18 UEFA competition ties in which they won the first home leg, most recently against Atalanta in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League round of 32 (3-2 h, 1-1 a). They have never previously won a first leg at home 2-1.

• The last time they won the first leg at home in the UEFA Champions League was in the 2012/13 semi-final against Real Madrid (4-1 h, 0-2 a). Their only elimination after a home first-leg win was in the 1987/88 UEFA Cup third round, when they won 3-0 at home to Club Brugge but lost the return in Belgium 5-0 after extra time.

• Dortmund's record in UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W2 L2:
6-5 v Auxerre, 1992/93 UEFA Cup semi-final
3-1 v Rangers, 1999/2000 UEFA Cup third round
2-4 v Club Brugge, 2003/04 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
3-4 v Udinese, 2008/09 UEFA Cup first round

Links and trivia

• Tuchel was Dortmund coach between June 2015 and May 2017, winning the German Cup in 2016/17.

Thomas Tuchel has coached both of these sides©AFP/Getty Images

• Abdou Diallo joined Paris from Dortmund last summer, making 28 Bundesliga appearances in his only season with BVB. He spent 2017/18 at Mainz.

• Dan-Axel Zagadou joined Paris aged 12 in 2011, staying with the club for six years before signing for Dortmund; he spent 2016/17, his final campaign with Paris, in the B team.

• Emre Can was sent off for two yellow cards in Leverkusen's 2-1 loss at Paris in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg in March 2014.

• Dortmund coach Lucien Favre was in charge of French side Nice between 2016 and 2018, guiding the club to third place in Ligue 1 in 2016/17 – their highest final placing for 40 years. His record against Paris was W1 D1 L2.

• Have also played in Germany:
Juan Bernat (Bayern München 2014–18)
Thilo Kehrer (Schalke 2012–18)
Julian Draxler (Schalke 2001–15, Wolfsburg 2015–17)

• Draxler scored in Schalke's 2-1 win against Dortmund in 2012/13.

• A Kehrer goal earned Schalke a 1-1 draw against Dortmund in 2016/17.

• Have played in France:
Thorgan Hazard (Lens 2007–12)
Raphaël Guerreiro (Caen 2012/13, Lorient 2013–16)

• Have played together:
Juan Bernat & Mario Götze (Bayern München 2014–16)
Juan Bernat & Mats Hummels (Bayern München 2016–18)
Keylor Navas & Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid 2017/18)

• Kylian Mbappé scored twice in Monaco's 3-2 first-leg win at Dortmund in 2017, and was also on target in the return, when Reus got the Dortmund goal (1-3).

• International team-mates:
Thilo Kehrer, Julian Draxler, Emre Can & Mario Götze, Julian Brandt, Nico Schulz, Mats Hummels, Marco Reus (Germany)
Thomas Meunier & Thorgan Hazard, Axel Witsel (Belgium)

• Two Edinson Cavani goals helped Uruguay to a 2-1 win against Guerreiro's Portugal in the 2018 FIFA World Cup round of 16.

• Guerreiro was in the Portugal side that beat France in the UEFA EURO 2016 final at the Stade de France in St-Denis, playing 120 minutes in a 1-0 victory.