A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Wednesday:
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
BAYERN MUNICH VS. PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
Defending champion Bayern Munich will have to do without top scorer Robert Lewandowski and fellow forward Serge Gnabry as it takes on Paris Saint-Germain in a repeat of last year’s final. Lewandowski is out of both legs of their quarterfinal with a knee injury sustained on international duty, while Gnabry tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday. Hansi Flick may call on former PSG forward Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting to fill in. The Bayern coach has more options in defense, where Jérôme Boateng and Alphonso Davies are back after missing Saturday’s win over Leipzig through suspension. The speedy Davies could replace Lucas Hernández, while Flick seems to value Boateng over Niklas Süle, who has been showing recent improvement after a long injury layoff.
PORTO VS. CHELSEA
Chelsea will have Christian Pulisic and N’Golo Kante fit to face Porto after overcoming hamstring issues. Forward Tammy Abraham will also be in the squad after being left out of Saturday’s 5-2 loss to West Bromwich, although N’Golo Kante is unlikely to start after his latest muscle complaint. Porto will be without midfielder Sérgio Oliveira because of a yellow card suspension. He scored two goals to help Porto get past Juventus in the last 16, including one in extra time. The Portuguese club will also be without Mehdi Taremi, who was sent off in the second leg against Juventus. Neutral Seville will be the location for both legs.
SPAIN
Real Sociedad hosts Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish league four days after defeating the Basque Country rival in a Copa del Rey final that was postponed from last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Athletic will face Barcelona in this season’s Copa final on April 17. Sociedad sits in seventh place in the league standings, one point behind both Villarreal and Real Betis. Athletic is in 10th place, 10 points behind Sociedad, needing a victory to get back in the fight for a Europa League qualification spot.
ITALY
Inter Milan can move 11 points clear at the top of Serie A with a victory in its rearranged match against Sassuolo. The match was postponed before the international break because of a coronavirus outbreak at Inter, The Nerazzurri are on a nine-match winning streak in the league. Juventus and Napoli play each other in another rescheduled match, with both sides level on points. They are 12 points below Inter and would move into third with a win. The match was meant to be played in October and caused much debate when the southern club did not travel to Turin after two of its players tested positive for the virus. Napoli was handed a 3-0 loss by the Italian league and docked one point but eventually had that overturned on appeal by the Italian Olympic Committee. Three Juventus players are out with the virus: defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Merih Demiral and winger Federico Bernardeschi.
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