The injury bug has hit the French capital, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time as they prepare for a big match tomorrow night against Chelsea FC in the Champions League Round of 16.
From UEFA.com:
"Serge Aurier, Yohan Cabaye and Lucas Moura are officially out, unfortunately. There are two or three other players who are doubtful [Thiago Motta, Blaise Matuidi, Marquinhos], we’ll have to assess their fitness after today’s training session.I’ll ask them if they are 100% fit and ready for this match, as for this type of fixtures, you need all your players on the pitch to be at 100%."
These are all players who are the heart of the PSG midfield and back 4. The list of injuries will force Blanc to change his tactics and start players he normally wouldn’t. Hazard should have a field day against Van der Wiel instead of Aurier, David Luiz may be expected to play in midfield – an area which he often played at with Chelsea and was uncomfortable – while Lavezzi, who’s had a woeful 4 goals and 2 assists on the year, will likely have to start.
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Injuries proved to be costly for PSG the last time these two met in the Champions League. When Ibrahimovic was forced to leave in the middle of the first leg, Cavani was forced to lead the line on his own in the return leg. He couldn’t put away costly chances while on the counter-attack, which paved the way for Demba Ba’s late heroics.
These injuries came in PSG’s last league game against Caens, which saw them blow a 2-goal lead late and was probably due to their overconfidence which saw their Twitter account take an unwarranted jab at The Special One:
87' PSG forced to "Park the Bus" (shout out to Jose Mourinho!) in the final minutes #PSGSMC
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) February 14, 2015
90'+2 Caen even the score 2-2 with PSG on a Bazile free kick #PSGSMC
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) February 14, 2015
PSG should learn that when it comes to mind games, nobody does it better than Jose Mourinho. Of course, Chelsea will have problems of their own, having to deal with PSG’s two-headed attack. But an inspired performance a few weeks ago by Kurt Zouma shutting down Sergio Aguero will have him feeling confident that he can get the job done against one of the world’s best strikers when he returns to his home country on Tuesday.
Whoever Mourinho starts at centre back, he should feel confident in their ability to stop PSG’s strikers. And while Chelsea had no trouble scoring on PSG last year when they had no real striker, they should feel a lot more confident this time around with Diego Costa leading the line against a pair of Brazilian center backs.
Photos by @cfcunoffical. On Twitter and at CFCUnofficial.com