Paris Saint-Germain take on Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Surprisingly, these two European giants have not faced each other in a competitive match since Juventus ran out 9-2 aggregate winners in the 1996 UEFA Super Cup.
Match preview
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Much has changed since then, of course, with PSG's trajectory shooting massively upwards since being taken over by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011, helping them purchase superstars such as Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi along the way.
However, the Champions League continues to elude the Parisians, with their 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the final in 2020 the closest they have come to lifting Europe's elite competition for the first time.
Last season, they were knocked out by Real Madrid at the last-16 stage despite holding a 2-0 aggregate lead with only half an hour remaining at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Karim Benzema's quick-fire hat-trick turned the tie on its head in yet another collapse at the highest level from PSG.
Christophe Galtier has succeeded Mauricio Pochettino in the dugout this summer, and the former Lille boss looks to have made PSG a more balanced unit already having switched to a 3-5-2 formation during the early weeks of his tenure. Five wins and one draw - including a comfortable 3-0 win away to Nantes at the weekend - has seen them move top of Ligue 1, ahead of Marseille on goal difference.
As with any PSG manager in recent times, though, it will be results and progress in the Champions League where Galtier is most heavily scrutinised. With Maccabi Haifa, Benfica and forthcoming opponents Juventus drawn alongside them in Group H, progressing to the knockout stages for an 11th successive season should not be a major issue, but it is thereafter where the real challenge will begin.
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Juventus, meanwhile, have won the European Cup on two occasions in their history, although they are considered the eternal bridesmaids having lost in seven other finals.
Since losing in the final to Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid in 2015 and 2017 respectively, the Turin-based side have not progressed beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League, disappointingly losing to Lyon, Benfica and Villarreal at the last-16 stage in each of the last three seasons.
While expectations are lower at Juventus these days - they have not won Serie A since 2020, with the two Milan sides seemingly improving beyond them - Massimiliano Allegri will hope to at least go one step further than that this time around.
They remain unbeaten in Serie A after five matches so far, although three draws means they are a couple of points behind AC Milan and Napoli at the top of the table, but having only conceded two goals across those games, there is clearly a solid platform to build from.
Their defence will certainly need to be at their best on Tuesday if they are to prevent PSG's star-studded attacking players from running riot at Parc des Princes.
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Team News
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PSG have almost a fully fit squad to choose from, with only Julian Draxler and Timothee Pembele unavailable due to knee injuries.
Sergio Ramos, Neymar, Nuno Mendes and Renato Sanches all came off the bench during the weekend's win at Nantes, and Allegri could opt to bring the quartet back into his starting XI, with Danilo Pereira, Pablo Sarabia, Juan Bernat and Vitinha likely to make way for them.
Gianluigi Donnarumma has been receiving the nod ahead of Keylor Navas in goal so far this season, but the Italian stopper may be denied the opportunity of facing his former club in order to provide Navas with important game-time as the club's cup goalkeeper.
Juventus, meanwhile, have several injury issues, which could see them travel without Paul Pogba, Adrien Rabiot, Wojciech Szczesny, Marley Ake, Kaio Jorge and Federico Chiesa.
Mattia Perin will continue to deputise for Szczesny in goal as the former Arsenal stopper continues to recover from a sprained ankle, while Leonardo Bonucci could return to the side in order to provide experience at centre-back, with Danilo shifting to right-back.
Angel di Maria was substituted at half-time of his side's 1-1 draw away to Fiorentina at the weekend, meaning he could miss Tuesday's clash against his former club. Juan Cuadrado would likely move higher up the pitch in order to provide more defensive stability on that side, with Dusan Vlahovic set to replace Arkadiusz Milik up front despite the Pole opening the scoring on Saturday.
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Navas; Ramos, Marquinhos, Kimpembe; Hakimi, Sanches, Verratti, Bernat; Messi, Mbappe, Neymar
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Perin; Danilo, Bonucci, Bremer, Sandro; Locatelli, Paredes, McKennie; Cuadrado, Vlahovic, Kostic
We say: Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 Juventus
We expect PSG to have too much quality for Juventus, who are missing several key players with injuries.
The Parisians look capable of going far in this season's Champions League, whereas the visitors may struggle to go beyond the last-16 stage once again.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
