Luis Enrique The PSG coach received good news today ahead of Wednesday’s decisive Champions League clash against Manchester City at the Parc des Princes with the continuation of the tournament for both teams at stake.
Too many Ousmane Dembélé, like Achraf Hakimi and captain Marquinhos, who have been absent from recent games, trained normally today with their teammates, two days before the great game, according to photos released by PSG.
Dembélé is back, in good shape before the virus
Virus affected, Ousmane Dembele He missed PSG’s last two games: last Wednesday against mediocre Espaly in the Coupe de France (2-4) and Saturday against Lens in Ligue 1 (1-2).
PSG won both matches despite not being able to rely on the former Barcelona player, who Before contracting the virus he was having his best moment of the season with 11 goals and 7 assists in all competitions. Ten of those goals have been achieved in Ligue 1 and five in the last three days. This is from two consecutive doubles against Monaco (2-4) and Saint-Étienne (2-1).
Achraf and Marquinho are also training
The edge Achraf Hakimi, reserved, He also missed these two games. “Nothing serious, we didn’t want to take any risks, in the last training session there were strange situations and because I accumulated many minutes of playing time…” Luis Enrique explained on Saturday.
Behind the center and captain Marquinhos has been out the last three games with adductor discomfort and Luis Enrique He also preferred not to take any chances before the big game against City.
Kvaratskhelia, great absence
In its part, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Signed on Friday by PSG after paying 70 million euros to Naples, he took part today in his first collective training session, after his first session on Sunday, but he will be the big absentee against City because, logically, He does not appear in Luis Enrique’s list of players to face the Champions League presented by the club to UEFA in September before the start of the competition.
Unlike other seasons, players signed in the January market cannot be lined up for the continuation of the Champions League, which traditionally returns in February in the round of 16 dispute.
The January signings are yet to debut in Europe
The fact that the tournament has been expanded to 32 teams and there are still two rounds of matches played this month in the league stage prevents the newly incorporated teams from participating in the competition until the playoffs before the round of 16.
Each team can include three new players in the list for the second phase of the Champions League. The last day to submit it is February 3.
PSG will therefore play out its European future without the Georgian winger, who will support his new teammates from the stands of the Parc des Princes and make his debut on Saturday against Reims in Ligue 1. Burdened by a lack of offensive efficiency, The French champion occupies the 25th place in the league stage, that is, it will be the first team removed from the competition according to the current classification.
They have 7 points, one less than Dinamo Zagreb, 24th and now the last participant to access the playoffs before the round of 16 of the Champions League. On the final day, PSG visit Stuttgart on Wednesday next week. All 18 games will be played at the same time, 9:00 pm
For its part, City is in 22nd place with 8 points, one more than PSG (7), so it is among the teams that will compete in the playoffs although its situation is extreme and its continuation in the Champions is also at stake League.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
