USA international Tyler Adams is back in the starting XI as RB Leipzig host a Lionel Messi-less Paris Saint-Germain in UEFA Champions League Group A on Wednesday (kick-off: 9pm CET).

As it happened!

Latest

Adams started Leipzig's 3-2 defeat in Paris and their DFB Cup second-round win over fourth-tier Babelsberg, but has been used rather more sparingly in this season's Bundesliga. The USMNT midfielder didn't make it off the bench in the 1-1 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, but with head coach Jesse Marsch's rotation policy- as well as Adams' bite - it's fair to assume he will be involved from the get-go on Champions League Matchday 4. Striker Andre Silva was on target in the reverse fixture and starts this time around, as well. Emil Forsberg is preferred to Dominik Szoboszlai in an attacking role alongside PSG-reared Christopher Nkunku, meanwhile, as Leipzig chase the win needed to keep their knock-out qualification hopes alive.

Messi misses out with hamstring and knee injuries picked up in last Friday's 2-1 win over French champions Lille. The Argentine was PSG's get-of-of-jail-free card last time, scoring twice in the second half as the 2020/21 Champions League runners-up hit back from 2-1 down to extend their unbeaten start to the group stage. Still, Leipzig were desperately unlucky not to be two or three goals up at half-time, and clearly rattled the French giants. The Parisians were subsequently held to a goalless draw by Marseille - a game in which former Borussia Dortmund full-back Achraf Hakimi was sent off - and needed another pair of late goals to see off Lille at the weekend. And while Neymar has returned from injury after sitting out the previous encounter, influential central midfielders Marco Verratti and Leandro Paredes, as well as four-time Champions League-winning defender Sergio Ramos, join Messi on the sidelines.

Watch: Nkunku, made in Paris, blossoming for Leipzig

Want more Bundesliga Action?

GET THE UPDATES!

Match stats

• This is the third consecutive UCL campaign that has put these two teams against each other, meaning Leipzig have met PSG four times in the tournament proper of UEFA competitions.
• Nkunku came through the PSG youth ranks, before making 78 senior appearances for the club on his way to joining Leipzig in summer 2019. The Frenchman is set to bring up a centry of games for Die Roten Bullen.
• Nkunku (nine goals and five assists) and and Szoboszlai (five goals and three assists) have been Leipzig's biggest goal threats this season.
• Leipzig trio Nordi Mukiele (Laval, Montpellier), Benjamin Henrichs (Monaco) and Mohamed Simakan (Strasbourg) have also played in France.
• PSG’s Thilo Kehrer (Schalke), Abdou Diallo (Mainz, Dortmund), Julian Draxler (Schalke, Wolfsburg) and Hakimi (Dortmund) are all former Bundesliga players.
• Messi is facing Leipzig for the second time. He has scored 19 goals in 18 games against six different German teams, but was shut out by Bayern on his previous trip to Germany.

CONFIRMED line-ups

Leipzig: Gulacsi (c) - Simakan, Orban, Gvardiol - Mukiele, Adams, Laimer, Angelino - Nkunku, Forsberg - Silva
Subs: Martinez, Haidara, Poulsen, Szoboszlai, Olmo, Moriba, Novoa, Henrichs, Kampl
Out: Brobbey (thigh), Halstenberg (ankle), Klostermann (thigh), Saracchi (knee)
Coach: Jesse Marsch

PSG: Donnarumma - Hakimi, Marquinhos (c), Kimpembe, Mendes - Wijnaldum, Danilo, Gueye - Di Maria, Mbappé, Neymar
Subs: Navas, Letellier, Icardi, Dagba, Kurzawa, Herrera, Diallo, Draxler, Kehrer, Dina Ebimbe
Out: Ramos (calf), Paredes (thigh), Verratti (hip), Messi (hamstring)
Coach: Mauricio Pochettino