PSG face injury crisis ahead of Manchester United match
Paris Saint-Germain will be without injured Argentinian striker Mauro Icardi for their opening Champions League group match against Manchester United, coach Thomas Tuchel has announced.
The French champions also missed Marco Verratti, Marquinhos and Julian Draxler in their 4-0 win over Nimes in a Ligue 1 game on Saturday morning (Oct 17, Singapore time) – and all three are uncertain for the United game in Paris next Wednesday morning.
“We have a bit of bad luck with players,” said Tuchel. “Mauro Icardi was injured on Wednesday last week, an internal ligament of the knee. It is not too serious but he has not done any training and he will be missing against Nimes and of course against Manchester.”
Question marks remain over several others in the PSG ranks who have been touched by the coronavirus, while Tuchel also confirmed defenders Thilo Kehrer and Juan Bernat are also set to miss the United clash.
Former Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera tested positive for Covid-19 and is in solitary confinement while new loan signing Danilo Pereira is a “contact case”, having been in the Portugal squad alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, who has tested positive, and also missed the match against Nimes.
“Kehrer is injured for a few weeks. Bernat is injured. We are missing too many players. It is the challenge now to find a starting XI... because that is the best preparation for Manchester.”
However, he can still count on the likes of Kylian Mbappe, who bagged a brace in the win over 10-man Nimes, just three days after scoring in France's 2-1 Nations League win over Croatia.
New signings Moise Kean and Rafinha made their PSG debuts against Nimes, while Neymar sat out the trip after scoring a hat-trick for Brazil in a World Cup qualifier in Peru that did not finish until the early hours of Wednesday in Europe. – AFP
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