This is why Messi’s believes they’ll beat Bayern Munich

Two of the favourites to win the 2022-23 Champions League will crash out at the round of 16 in March after a box office draw paired Bayern Munich with Paris Saint-Germain and gave us a re-run of last season's final between Real Madrid and Liverpool. With the 2022 World Cup due to kick off in less than two weeks, the focus of the game is now beginning to be fixed on international football's biggest tournament. 

But there will be no time for a World Cup hangover with the Champions League returning in mid-February with a series of outstanding ties. While Liverpool-Real and PSG-Bayern are the standout fixtures, there are some finely balanced ties between AC Milan and Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea, and Club Brugge and Benfica. Manchester City and Napoli, two of the strongest teams in the group stage, will also face RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt respectively.

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So how will it all play out, and which teams will make it to the quarterfinals? PSG-Bayern is a repeat of the 2020 final, when Bayern beat PSG in Lisbon in the French club's first appearance in the Champions League final. But having been eliminated in the round of 16 by Real Madrid last season, PSG face a daunting challenge if they are to overcome that disappointment against Bayern. Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi have delivered in the competition this season.

PSG tipped to trump

 PSG are unbeaten after six games, but Bayern bettered that by qualifying with six wins from six in a group containing Inter Milan and Barcelona. It will be a huge clash over two legs, and the winners could go on to lift the trophy in Istanbul next June. Bayern are as tough an opponent as PSG could have faced. But to win any competition you have to beat the best teams and it does not matter in what order.