PSG head coach Mauricio Pochettino says he has not yet decided if Kylian Mbappe will play any part in the club’s second leg semi final UEFA Champions League game against Mamchester City on Tuesday.
Mbappe has been included in the PSG squad for the huge clash against City despite missing Saturday’s 2-1 win over Lens in Ligue 1 with a thigh injury.
“We still have to assess the situation with Kylian,” Pochettino said in his press conference on Tuesday. “Today he’s going to train on his own and we will see if he can do it with the group at the end. We have one day left. We still haven’t made a decision.”
Pochettino is almost at full strength for the meeting with City, with Juan Bernat the only experienced star stuck on the sidelines with knee ligament damage. Mbappe’s return is headline news for PSG, with Neymar, Angel Di Maria, Moise Kean and Marco Verratti also at their disposal.
Idrissa Gueye is set to serve a European suspension, having seen red in a 2-1 first leg defeat for PSG, but he will be making the trip to Manchester alongside the rest of his team-mates.
Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas, Sergio Rico, Mathyas Randriamamy, Yanis Saidani
Defenders: Colin Dagba, Alessandro Florenzi, Theo Bakker, Marquinhos, Presnel Kimpembe, Laywin Kurzawa, Abdou Diallo, Thilo Kehrer
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes, Marco Verratti, Danilo Pereira, Rafinha Alcantara, Ander Herrera, Julian Draxler
Forwards: Moise Kean, Kylian Mbappe, Mauro Icardi, Pablo Sarabia, Neymar
Last season’s beaten finalists know they must score at least twice on Tuesday in order to reach another continental showpiece, with two away goals for the Citizens doing Pochettino’s cause few favours.
Neymar has already vowed to “die on the pitch” in pursuit of victory, with Alessandro Florenzi embracing that call to arms. He has told the club’s official website: “In these types of games you don’t feel fatigue. The truth is that you don’t feel fatigue because everything is at stake, motivation, pride, there is a team, there is a city that all want a good result.
“Obviously we’ll do everything we can to give the fans something magical. That’s what we want, so what Ney said about fatigue is absolutely right. It will be above all a mental game and we want to take it really home.
“I think that the less you prepare for these games mentally the better it is. If you start thinking about it 3 or 4 days before I think you arrive exhausted. “There are games that prepare themselves as we say and this is one of them. We’re going to go into it with a lot of heart, pride and desire to win to try and make history.”
Story by Sammy Wejinya
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