Why Sidney Sam Will Be the Key Man for Leverkusen vs. PSG in Champions League

On Wednesday night Bayer Leverkusen take on the might of Paris Saint Germain in the first leg of a last-16 encounter that will undoubtedly prove one of the trickiest hurdles that the German club has had to face in the Champions League for some time. 

To make matters worse, Sami Hyypia's side were dealt a bitter blow in the Bundesliga this weekend when an in-form Schalke side traveled to Leverkusen and overturned the home side by two goals to one. They inflicted the third loss in Bayer's last five games in the league and blew the race for second place wide open. 

In such poor form and lowly spirits, it will take something of a master class performance from the German side if they intend to take anything from this game. Especially from one player in particular: Sidney Sam. 

He's ready to fight 

Undoubtedly, the first thing that Sam will have to his advantage is that he'll be much fresher than most of his teammates on Wednesday night. The German forward was "rested" on Saturday evening whilst his side played Schalke, due to the fact that the player has already agreed a pre-contract with the Royal Blues. Hyypia didn't want to complicate or test the player's loyalties so he chose to essentially cut him from the side. 

Leverkusen went on to lose that game—one that they most definitely had to win—and will undoubtedly turn to their rested forward for not only guidance but retribution for the remainder of the season. Sam has some making up to do. 

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Of course, the ambitious 26-year-old will need little incentive on Tuesday night when the might of Paris Saint Germain comes to the BayArena. For amongst Leverkusen's strong squad he is the key man to step up when the stakes are so high. 

For the old Factory Squad, the means of battling against the bigger teams throughout Germany usually leads to situations in which victories over the other big four clubs go a long way to cementing their place in the Bundesliga. 

Sam's goals in such games have been invaluable. This season alone he has scored some of his seven goals in the Bundesliga against sides such as Gladbach, Wolfsburg, Hannover and, perhaps most importantly, Bayern Munich. The very side that are hoping to retain this European Cup. 

Of course, the wide-forward has only scored one goal in four games in this season's Champions League, yet for Hyypia the tactic will surely remain the same as always: Get the ball to Sam and let him work his magic when it's needed most. 

Leverkusen win with Sam

Such a simplistic view of Sam's importance to Leverkusen's hopes may seem slightly exaggerated, but when we look at the loss ratio of the team in the Bundesliga when the German forward is either banned or out injured, the story speaks for itself. 

This season Leverkusen have lost just two games out of 15 Bundesliga matches in which Sam either started or took part in at some point. This gives a ratio of around 0.13 or essentially one loss to every seven games. 

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

With the right-winger out of the side, the figure drops significantly. Hyypia's side have been fortunate that Sam's recurring injuries haven't taken their usual toll this season, but the player has missed six Bundesliga games throughout the campaign. Of these games Bayer lost four, pushing their loss ratio up to a staggering 0.66.

This naturally means that of all the games Leverkusen lost in the Bundesliga this season, Sam was unavailable in 66 percent of those. A figure that will definitely dispel notions of any coincidences regarding this player's impact on the side. If Sam is in the team Leverkusen are statistically less likely to lose. 

He can hit PSG's weak spot

On a more practical level there is also the simple fact that Sam is likely to come up against 32-year-old Maxwell on Tuesday night (PSG's left-back and undoubtedly the French side's Achilles' heel). 

Although the Brazilian defender has had a relatively decent season for the Parisians this year, as the club simply walk to another Ligue 1 title, it's all too apparent that he enjoys living up to stereotypes with his total disregard for keeping an eye on his rear as he gallops up the park. 

Now Hyypia, for all his pragmatic and tactical intelligence, will be expecting Sam's main priority to be the defensive cover for such runs and ensuring that the Brazilian isn't given space or time to swing deep balls in to the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Yet he also expects his vital right-winger to keep Maxwell busy in a very literal sense, by constantly bombarding the full-back with marauding runs of his own and putting in crosses for Leverkusen's own towering striker, Stefan Kiessling. 

Sam may be a free-scoring midfielder, but he also has the highest assists record in the squad this season (with a grand total of seven) and will be expected to provide just as many chances as he takes on his own. With the limited Maxwell on his toes, this may be Leverkusen's best chance at creating goals against this powerful PSG side. 

All stats were provided by transfermark.co.uk