The first quarter-final of the 2019-2020 Champions League between Italian club Atalanta and French giants Paris Saint-Germain FC will be held in Lisbon, Portugal at the Estadio Da Luz on Thursday, August 13 at 12.30 am (IST).

This year’s curtailed Champions League quarter-finals will be a knockout game, a break from the regular two-legged draws.

The first quarter-final will feature Paris Saint-Germain FC and Atalanta, two teams yet to win the Champions League. This will be the first competitive meeting between the two clubs and prior to the tournament Atalanta’s only encounter with a French side was versus Olympique Lyonnais in the 2017-18 UEFA Europa League. 

While Atalanta did beat a french side in an European competition, their opponents Paris Saint-Germain FC is yet to beat an Italian side in the tournament. Paris has never won a single game against an Italian opposition in the UEFA Champions League, drawing four and losing two. 

Atalanta became the first UEFA Champions League debutants since Leicester City in 2015-16 to reach the quarter-finals. Paris Saint-Germain FC too reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2015-16. Paris hasn’t reached the semi-final of the tournament since 1994-95 when they were outwitted by Italian side AC Milan.

On their way to the quarter-finals, Paris beat German side Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16 and topped Group A in the initial stage of the tournament having defeated 13-time Champions Real Madrid, Belgian side Club Brugge, and Turkish side Galatasaray. PSG was also crowned the Ligue 1 champions in France and won the Coupe de France, the Coupe de la Ligue, and the Trophee des Champions in the domestic circuit.

Atalanta on the other hand lost the first three games in the Champions League group stage. Pitted in Group C in the initial stage of the tournament Atalanta conceded 10 goals in the first three matches, but beat Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donetsk to proceed to the round of 16 where they beat Spanish side Valencia 8-4 on aggregate.

While Paris Saint-Germain FC has a star-studded squad with the likes of Neymar, Thiago Silva and Marquinhos from Brazil and Angel Di Maria, Kylian Mbappe, Marco Verratti, and others, Italian side Atalanta has enjoyed a good season in the Italian Serie A finishing third behind Champions Juventus and the Antonio Conte coached side Inter Milan.

Atalanta will be banking on strikers Luis Muriel, Duvan Zapata, and Josip Ilicic to rack up a few goals against their french opponents PSG in the quarterfinals. This season Atalanta became the first club to have three players who scored at least 15 goals in Serie A, a feat last achieved by Juventus in 1951-52.