Today at 2:45 p.m. ET Bayer Leverkusen will host a match against high-powered Paris Saint-Germain in Germany in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 matchup. Live stream the action by clicking this link.
Leverkusen is facing a tall task today and is coming off a loss to Schalke that may not bode well for them today. Coach Sami Hyppia thinks the loss to Schalke signaled good things, however. "If we play like we did on Saturday, then we're capable of making life very difficult for Paris,'' he said. "We've got to play to our limit and give 100 percent. Our strength lies in our teamwork.''
Maybe the return of Sidney Sam is bolstering Hyppia's confidence, but PSG will be able to counter with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who found the back of the net eight times in the group stages. He's one of the best players in the world, but their whole team is full of quality players,'' Hyppia said.
PSG won 3-0 in a recent Ligue 1 game, but Laurent Blanc suspects his players have been eyeing Leverkusen. "When you win 3-0, you can only congratulate your players,'' said Blanc. "Although in truth, I think they've had their minds on Leverkusen for quite a while now. We were able to make some changes in order to prepare for Tuesday's Champions League game so that's good.''
PSG posted a goal differential of plus-11 during the group stages, and were led by Ibrahimovic's torrid goal scoring along with Gregory Van der Wiel's creativity and aggressive play. Van der Wiel made his mark, leading PSG with three assists as well as three yellow cards.
Leverkusen plays a less exhilarating brand of soccer, finishing the group stage with a minus-1 goal differential. They scored just nine goals as opposed to PSG's 16, and were led by Simon Rofles who has three in Champions League play.
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