On the eve of Paris Saint-Germain’s match against Montpellier HSC at the Parc des Princes, manager Thomas Tuchel revealed the players who will be unavailable to him at his pre-match press conference as reported by Culture PSG.
“We will miss Marquinhos, Colin Dagba, Juan Bernat, and Thiago Silva,” Tuchel said. “All others are available and present for the next training. We will then decide who plays.”
According to the club’s official medical update, only Marquinhos and Dagba are expected to be out an extended length of time. Bernat and Silva should make their return in early February.
When Tuchel says, “all others are available,” we can assume that include Edinson Cavani who desperately wanted a January transfer to Atlético Madrid, which never came to fruition.
I don’t believe Cavani will get the start over Mauro Icardi for the simple fact he hasn’t played since January 12 when he made a brief appearance against AS Monaco. He’ll need some time to get back into the rotation but I could see Tuchel bringing the Uruguayan on in the second half of the match is wrapped up so that the supporters can show their support for the club’s all-time leading scorer.
Or, maybe the supporters will give him a bit of stick for trying to force a transfer away with five months left on his PSG contract and even offering to make less salary with Atléti to help the deal get across the line.
“He must regain confidence and regain the rhythm,” Tuchel said. “It is normal for a striker but Edi is there and is a great player of this club. We have no change in the group and that’s good because we are used to living and working together. It starts with him tomorrow and we’ll see.”
It will be an interesting evening at the Parc des Princes…
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