Champions League: PSG v Girona preview & betting tips

Ladbrokes shares its preview, betting tips and predictions for PSG v Girona on Wednesday evening in the Champions League.

PSG have never managed to win the Champions League, despite having had the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar on their books, and their job has been made harder following Kylian Mbappe's move to Real Madrid.

The French club are now looking to build their side around the right profiles, rather than superstars of the ilk of Messi and Mbappe, and they'll be going into this season's UCL attempting to win the whole competition, there's no doubt about that.

They kick off their campaign against Girona, who shocked the footballing world by finishing in the top four of Spain last year, so without further ado, join Ladbrokes as our team of experts share their preview, betting tips and predictions for the big game in the Champions League.

Despite having signed some of the world's best players since their project started, PSG have never won Europe's top club competition, with the likes of Sergio Ramos and the aforementioned Messi even being brought in to proving UCL-winning experience, but to no avail.

This summer saw PSG sign Joao Neves from Benfica, and the French club have started their domestic season very well, winning each of their four opening games and averaging four goals scored every fixture.

Girona, on the other hand, have only won two of their five games, and are coming off a 4-1 loss to Barcelona at weekend, with Hansi Flick's side sitting top of Spain's top-flight.

Despite being more than aware of Girona's determination and quality, PSG's fans, coaches and players will almost definitely be licking their lips at the prospect of kicking off their Champions League campaign with a statement win.

PSG will view themselves as the favourites for September 18's game in France, and the odds released by the bookies most definitely reflect that.

It's not all good for PSG on the selection front ahead of the game against Girona, as Gianluigi Donnarumma has been ruled out after sustaining a thigh injury against Brest at the weekend, meaning summer signing Matvey Safonov is expected to make his debut.

Warren Zaire-Emery and Vitinha both missed the aformentioned game against Brest with injuries of their own, and it remains to be seen whether or not PSG's medical team will deem the midfield duo fit enough to feature against Girona.

Goncalo Ramos, Presnel Kimpembe and Lucas Hernandez are all missing as well, but their injuries are more long-term, so Luis Enrique will have been planning for Wednesday's game without them for some time.

Just like Vitinha and Zaire-Emery, Yangel Herrera missed his side's domestic league match at the weekend and may also be ruled out for Girona's game against PSG on Wednesday.

Oriol Romeu also didn't feature against Barcelona, but that was due to being on loan from the Spanish giants, so he'll be back in Girona's midfield for the game against PSG, with Donny van de Beek potentially making his UCL comeback following a nightmare spell at Man United.

Two players who will definitely be missing from Girona's starting XI for the game against PSG are Ricard Artero and Jastin, who are absent with ankle and shoulder injuries respectively.

Possible starting line-ups:

PSG - Safonov; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Skriniar, Mendes; Neves, Ruiz, Lee; Dembele, Kolo Muani, Barcola

Girona - Gazzaniga; Frances, Lopez, Blind, Gutierrez; Herrera, Romeu, Martin; Tsygankov, Ruiz, Danjuma

As noted, PSG are the heavy favourites to win Wednesday night's game, and we'd be very surprised to see the French side finishing gameweek one with anything less than three points.

In fact, despite Girona being a spirited side, we think they've simply lost too many of their best players to pose a threat to PSG like they may have been able to last season, so we're predicting Enrique's side to win without conceding a goal.

PSG are seen by fans, pundits and the bookies alike as one of the front-runners to win this season's Champions League, and they'll be hoping they prove why that's the case with a statement win at home on September 18.

The star man for PSG this summer in an attacking sense has been Bradley Barcola, who also impressed for France at Euro 2024 when starting or coming off the bench, and we're predicting the young winger is going to score for the fifth time this season.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.