Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino still has not given his final verdict on Marco Verratti’s availability for the team’s upcoming UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg clash against Barcelona.
Verratti has missed PSG’s last two matches due to a right hip bruise injury. The Italian midfielder suffered the injury during the late stages of the team’s recent Ligue 1 win over Olympique de Marseille.
For now, Verratti is still being evaluated on a day-by-day basis ahead of the upcoming fixture against Barca. As Pochettino mentioned (via RMC Sport) following PSG’s 2-1 win over OGC Nice, he is not leaning one way or the other regarding the midfielder’s availability for the Barca bout.
“He trained today, but he still has some pain,” Pochettino said following the win over Nice.
“We’ll see how it goes. As soon as we get back to the hotel, we’ll discuss the different strategies and take stock of the players’ physical condition. We’ll see in the next few days.”
PSG is already going to be without Neymar and very likely will not have Angel Di Maria either for this Barca fixture. If Verratti will not be able to feature in this matchup, midfielder Leandro Paredes will certainly go on to have hefty responsibilities to take care of in his absence.
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