Paris vs Real Madrid match facts

An eighth appearance in the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-finals is the goal for Paris Saint-Germain as they host Real Madrid at the Parc des Princes in what promises to be a Friday night classic.

Paris are three points behind Chelsea in second place in Group A but two ahead of Madrid, so a victory will take the French side through with a game to spare and end the hopes of the Spanish side reaching a second quarter-final in as many European campaigns.

Beaten semi-finalists in each of the last three seasons, Paris were the top scoring-team in last term's inaugural group stage, hitting 25 goals and conceding none in their six Group B encounters. However, they failed to find the net in their first two Group A games in this campaign, losing 1-0 at home to Chelsea on Matchday 1 and drawing 0-0 at Madrid, before recovering to register two convincing wins against Vllaznia (5-0 h, 4-0 a) and leapfrog the Spanish club into second place, Ramona Bachmann, Magnaba Folquet and Kadidiatou Diani all scoring twice across the two games.

Gérard Prêcheur, who took over as Paris head coach in August, guided his side into this group stage at the expense of Swedish outfit BK Häcken, courtesy of a 4-1 aggregate success in round 2 of qualifying (2-1 h, 2-0 a).

Madrid, who finished third in their 2021/22 domestic league, had to negotiate two qualifying rounds to reach the group stage, getting past Sturm Graz (6-0 h) and Manchester City (1-1 h, 1-0 a) in the first before overcoming Norwegian Toppserien runners-up Rosenborg in the second (3-0 a, 2-1 h). They kicked off Group A by winning 2-0 away to Vllaznia but have won no further games since, following up that stalemate with Paris by losing 2-0 at Chelsea then drawing the return fixture 1-1 in Madrid with Caroline Weir scoring their goal.

The clubs were paired together in Group B last term, Les Parisiennes winning both the Matchday 3 and 4 encounters, the first 4-0 at home, the second 2-0 away with Marie-Antoinette Katoto scoring three of the French club's six goals. Those were the only points dropped and goals conceded by Madrid in the section.

While Madrid have faced no other French club in UEFA competition, Paris have also met Barcelona on six occasions, eliminating them in the 2015/16 quarter-final (0-0 a, 1-0 h) and the 2016/17 semi-final (3-1 a, 2-0 h) but losing to the Catalan side in the 2020/21 semi-final (1-1 h, 1-2 a).

Players to watch

Jackie Groenen

Netherlands international Groenen joined Paris Saint-German in September this year on a three-year contract after three seasons in the FA Women's Super League with Manchester United.

The midfielder failed to score in 60 appearances for United but broke her duck for Paris in November in a 2-2 draw against Montpellier.

This is only her second season of European competition, the first with 1. FFC Frankfurt in 2015/16.

Groenen has started all four of Paris's Group A fixtures, though she has also been substituted in every game. She celebrates her 28th birthday the day after this game.

A prominent member of the Netherlands team that won UEFA Women's EURO 2017 on home soil, starting all six matches, she also starred at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France, scoring an extra-time winner in the semi-final against Sweden.

Olga Carmona

The 22-year-old left-back is in her third season with Real Madrid, having joined from hometown club Sevilla in 2020.

She spent three seasons as a teenager in the Sevilla first team, racking up 75 appearances and scoring seven goals.

Carmona has scored four goals in 15 UEFA Women's Champions League matches, including one in each leg of last season's quarter-final against Barcelona. She scored her third penalty in the competition in Madrid's 2-0 Matchday 1 win at Vllaznia.

She won the 2018 UEFA Women's European Under-19 Championship with Spain and was the team's top scorer with two goals – in group wins against Switzerland and France.

First capped at senior level by Spain in April 2021, Carmona appeared for her country at UEFA Women's EURO 2022 and now has 18 caps.

Key facts

Paris's Matchday 4 victory in Albania was just the fourth in their last nine European games (D2 L3).

The French side had scored in 15 successive UEFA Women's Champions League matches before drawing a blank against Chelsea on Matchday 1.

Paris have never lost at home to Spanish opposition in Europe (W3 D1).

Real Madrid won all of their first five European matches this season before drawing with Paris on Matchday 2 and are now three games without a victory.

Madrid had not conceded a goal in four successive UEFA Women's Champions League group matches until their Matchday 3 defeat at Chelsea.

Las Blancas have kept five clean sheets in their eight European matches this season, conceding just four goals in total.