Paris Saint-Germain travels to Belgium today to prepare for an important UEFA Champions League match on Tuesday against Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadium. Manager Thomas Tuchel will bring with him a talented squad but with a few key absences.
The latest addition to the squad is Colin Dagba who returns after a lengthy injury, per Le Parisien, and while he was out, he also managed to extend his contract with the club until 2024 per their official website. I would say that’s making the most of your time away from the pitch. Given that he’s just returning, I don’t expect Tuchel to start him at right-back, especially when Thomas Meunier is going up against his former club and will be motivated to put in a great performance.
The rest of the squad looks like this:
Goalkeepers: Garissone Innocent, Keylor Navas, Sergio Rico
Defenders: Juan Bernat, Colin Dagba, Abdou Diallo, Presnel Kimpembe, Layvin Kurzawa Thomas Meunier, Thiago Silva
Midfielders: Ander Herrera, Marquinhos, Leandro Paredes, Pablo Sarabia, Marco Verratti
Attackers: Edinson Cavani, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Angel Di Maria, Mauro Icardi, Kylian Mbappé
OUT: Mitchel Bakker, Marcin Bulka, Julian Draxler, Idrissa Gueye, Thilo Kehrer, Loïc Mbe Soh, Neymar Jr.
🎥🌧️ #CLUPSG@ChampionsLeague mode 🔛
🔴🔵 #AllezParis pic.twitter.com/SkT0mqlUfM
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) October 20, 2019
Tuchel has plenty of options to lead his attack. Angel Di Maria is in brilliant form at the moment, having scored a brace against OGC Nice last Friday and a brace against Real Madrid on Matchday 1. Mauro Icardi recorded a goal and an assist against Nice and should be expected to start again. The difficult decision the manager will have to make is whether or not to start Kylian Mbappé on the right-wing or Pablo Sarabia. A lot will depend on how the Frenchman feels as he is just making his return from a hamstring injury and the club is understandably being cautious with his recovery as Tuchel eluded to in his post-match comments per Le Parisien. He did score and assist another after coming into the game against Nice in the 83rd minute, so he may be ready to open things up and play more minutes.
One player you likely won’t see in the starting lineup is Edinson Cavani, who is out of contract at the end of the season and hasn’t played a minute for PSG in nearly two months due to a hip injury.
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